A Secret Beginning: Season Two
by sunsetsoverwater
Summary: Sequel to A Secret Beginning - Luke and Lorelai managed to carry on a secret affair with each other before finally coming together as a couple. How will they navigate what life throws at them? Follows the events of season two.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it. I give all credit to the writers of this fantastic show for the dialogue I've borrowed.

 **Author's Notes:** So, because so many of you asked for it (and thank you!) here is season two of **A Secret Beginning**. If you haven't read that first, I'd suggest doing so, so you can see how we got here, but it's not super necessary.

I'm going to do the same thing with this story as I did ASB, in that it's going to go in episodic order. Obviously, canon has shifted at this point, but I'm still going to keep close to the events of season two where it makes sense.

 **Edit:** I updated the chapter to reflect they should be going to HARVARD, not HARTFORD for their trip. I'm clearly flying betaless and finally made a boneheaded mistake (facepalm) Thanks to **PurryCat** for pointing that out to me. :)

* * *

 **The Before, and One**

Her head was buzzing, and for a moment in time, everything seemed right with the world. Rory was ecstatic about getting back together with Dean, and she had been asked out by the guy whom she assumed she had missed out on. She was able to have a mini celebration in the center of town with her daughter before each broke off for their respective dates, but there was a promise for a real Gilmore girl's movie night as soon as possible.

When she waved Rory off, she watched as her daughter sauntered in the direction of Dean's house with a promise Rory would be home by 10 – it was a school night after all – and she would be in before midnight. Satisfied Rory could handle herself for the rest of the evening, Lorelai turned and started in the direction of the diner and her dinner date.

After dealing with the linen delivery, she had called Luke and told him that she would absolutely have dinner with him that night, and would meet him at the diner by 7. He promised her a good meal at a restaurant in Litchfield, so, she was sold on the evening. Honestly, he could have said they were going to sit on a park bench all evening to watch paint dry, and she would have been sold. Just the fact that she was able to have a _date_ with him was all that mattered.

She felt light, and was almost tempted to start skipping towards the diner. In fact, why not? She took a couple of skips down the sidewalk, and was contemplating just going full out and doing a twirl while she was at it when someone tugged on her hand and pulled her into the side alleyway.

Just as she was about to let out a strangled yelp, she recognized the strong arms that held her close, and when those arms pressed her back up against the brick wall, she felt butterflies fluttering in her chest and liquid pooling between her legs. When she looked up into the deep blue eyes she knew so well, she licked her lips in anticipation. "I never knew being dragged into a back alley could be so sexy. Oh, robber of mine. Take what you want. It's all yours."

Luke rolled his eyes and leaned back as he raked his fingers through his hair. "Jeez."

"What? It's not like I asked you to pull me back here. What are you doing here, anyways? Wasn't the plan to meet at the diner?" She leaned in conspiratorially and lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Or did you just say to hell with the nice dinner and Litchfield, and decide on dumpster diving in the Hollow?"

"Ok, I'm rethinking this whole thing."

"No, wait! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She leaned back up against the brick wall and flipped her hair while batting her eyelashes at him. "Do you forgive me?"

Luke's lips twitched up in a smirk. "Maybe."

She felt a megawatt grin stretch across her face. "Aw, I know you do. But seriously, why are you here? What happened to meeting at the diner?"

"That was the plan, but I've been watching you dance in the middle of the street for the past half hour. Did you even notice you were almost hit by a car?"

She tried to think back to her surroundings as she was with Rory, and couldn't remember seeing a car. But then, she didn't remember being in the middle of the street, either, so, her memory wasn't the best resource. She shrugged and shook her head. "Nope."

"Lorelai! Do you know how dangerous that is? I mean, I know Stars Hollow isn't exactly a freeway in California, but there are still cars driving down the street, and people here are morons. Half the time they're reading a paper or doing their makeup while driving, and not actually paying any attention to what's in front of them. In fact, I would bet most of them wouldn't be cleared to drive by any sane division of the DMV. They're not looking to see if two crazy people are dancing in the street, and why should they? People should not be dancing in the street."

"Uh, Martha and the Vandellas would disagree."

Luke continued as if she hadn't even said anything. "You need to be more aware of what you're doing and where. I realize you think the world revolves around you, but that's just not the way it is. Well, most of the time around here anyways."

As Luke continued, she bit the tip of her thumbnail, and grinned. She couldn't help it. His rants just did something to her – especially when they involved her safety. It was a nice feeling to know he was looking out for her.

"So you need to be more careful." Luke suddenly realized Lorelai wasn't at all paying attention to what he was saying, and was looking at him way too coyly. "What?"

"I love listening to you rant."

He blinked a few times before letting out a huge sigh. "You heard nothing I said, did you?"

"I heard something about a car."

He looked skyward and counted to five before looking at her again. "Come on. Let's go before I decide to leave you here." Luke reached down and grabbed Lorelai's hand, and tugged her further into the alley.

As he pulled her along, she giggled. "Ooo, kinky. Taking me even further from the crowds. My, what could you possibly have on your mind, Luke?"

Choosing to ignore her comment, Luke simply said, "I parked the truck out back. This way is faster. And besides, I was tired of everyone in the diner asking when you were coming in. Did you tell everyone about our date?"

She shook her head. "That was probably Sookie. She got your note before I did." As they neared the familiar green truck, she was sure she heard Luke mumble something about "this crazy town" but she chose to ignore it as she climbed in the door he opened for her.

As they drove, she watched the scenery fly by, content to just be in the same place with Luke. Her earlier jubilance had been placated, and as soft music played through the old speakers, she didn't even feel the need to sing loudly at the top of her lungs like she usually did in situations like this. Instead, she just looked over and grinned when she felt his fingers tangle with hers.

The drive went by quickly, and soon they were seated in a back corner table of a cozy, Italian restaurant. The soft firelight from candles at the table, combined with the light melodic tunes of a live guitar player created the perfect atmosphere for a first date. Conversation flowed easily throughout the evening, even though she could feel a war of nerves and comfort in her stomach. It was so natural to be with Luke – they had been together for years – but this was the first actual date, so it was a little scary. Thankfully, the wine they drank with their meal tempered those nerves, and a plate of tiramisu just put the perfect cap on the date.

However, the wine coursing through her veins, and the close confines of Luke's truck on the drive home had her blood racing. It had been so long since she had been really alone with Luke, and her body was craving him. She could feel desire wafting off of Luke as well, so when he turned in the direction of the diner instead of her house, she breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she wanted to treat this like a first date, and not come off as easy, she had a definite itch that needed to be scratched, and finally Luke was there to do so.

She didn't say a word as they climbed out of the truck and slipped in the back door and up the stairs to his apartment. On the other side of a thin curtain were various townsfolk finishing up late dinners, or their after-dinner pie, all completely oblivious to the couple running up the stairs, eager to be in the privacy of the apartment above.

Once the door was closed, the need for first-date decorum was shed along with all of their clothes. She could feel Luke's erection pressing against her stomach, and when she felt the small bead of moisture rub across her belly, she knew he was just as desperate as she was. They stumbled back towards the bed, tongues dueling for supremacy, their breath becoming as one.

And as she sunk onto the covers of his bed, and Luke's weight pressed down on her, she finally felt home. So much time had passed while each of them was with other people, but finally, finally they were back together.

Luke broke the kiss to move his mouth down her body, carefully pulling one peaked nipple into his mouth and sucking, while pinching the other lightly with his fingers. She pressed her head further back into the pillow as her eyes closed with the intense pleasure rocketing through her body.

Replacing his mouth with his hand, Luke continued to fondle her breasts for a moment as he kissed down her stomach, until he released them to grab hold of her hips. Holding on tight, he swirled his tongue in her navel, and she felt goosebumps rise on her skin where he had licked.

Finally, finally he moved further south, and when his breath stirred her curls, she could already feel the liquid pooling between her legs. She was already well stimulated, but knew this man too well to know he would quit now to move onto his own pleasure.

So when he flicked his tongue against her, she shuddered, and could only think about how long it had been since she felt pleasure like this. Her body was primed and ready, and when he started to gently suck on her, she could feel her inner walls already tightening. It wouldn't be too much longer before her climax would hit. But then suddenly, Luke pulled back and looked in the direction of the door. "Did you just hear Patty's voice?"

To be honest, she didn't even hear his question. Her climax was so close, and all she wanted was his lips back on her once more. "Luke, I swear to god, do not stop now." A split second later, she felt his warm breath cascading over her, and then felt his fingers enter her, stroking her from the inside. He returned to sucking her, and it felt good. So good. And then she was falling through euphoria. The things this man could do to her. She felt him place a gentle kiss on her inner thigh, and when she finally was able to open her eyes, she saw two blue eyes, dark with desire, looking down at her.

She reached up to pull his head down to hers, and captured his lips with her own, kissing him deeply as she wrapped her legs around him, slowly starting a gyrating motion that only served to further encourage Luke. As she felt the desire start to swirl within her once again, Luke reached down between them to tease her center, before replacing those fingers with the tip of his shaft. A soft moan escaped her lips, and Luke used that as encouragement to slowly slip within her heat. With the connection made, both took a few minutes to enjoy the moment, before he began to move.

He maintained a slow penetration, easing in and out, until the passion became too much for both of them, and she whispered for him to let himself go. With her gentle words, Luke's thrusts became more and more feverish, and when he dipped his lips to suck on the pulse in her neck, she felt her walls tighten around him. Once again she was flying through her climax, her whole body shuddering with pleasure, and a small whimper escaped her lips.

The sound snapped any concentration Luke had left, and he pounded into her until his own climax ripped through his body. After emptying himself inside of her, and with his energy spent, he collapsed on top of her, burying his face in her neck. Once she was finally able to catch her breath, she urged Luke to lift his face, and she smiled and kissed his forehead. "God, I missed this."

He nodded and slowly pulled out of her, rolling to his side, and pulling her close. "Me too. So much."

"Was it better now because we're official?"

She felt him nod his agreement against her skin, and knew he wouldn't verbally answer. He wasn't talkative normally, and definitely wasn't after sex – especially sex like that. They had been comfortable with each other for years, but this time was different. This time it really meant something, and she could only imagine how much better it would be the longer they were together.

Minutes passed, and they laid there in the silence of the afterglow – the only sounds in the apartment came from their breathing. But a sudden knock on the door startled her. A quick glance at the clock showed close to 11pm, and she looked up at Luke with a furrowed brow. "Who is that?"

"I have no idea. Ignore them. They'll go away."

"But it's so late. What if it's an emergency?"

"Then let them deal with it."

The loud knock sounded again, and Luke growled. "I'm going to kill whoever it is. Knowing this crazy town, it's someone here to check up to see if you're here. I swear I heard Patty earlier."

She wasn't surprised when he ripped the covers off of them, and started towards the door. However, she called his name as quietly as she could to get his attention before he made it to the door in the buff, since he was only seeing red at the moment. "Luke. At least put your pajamas on so it looks like you were sleeping. Unless you want whoever is there to get a greeting they'll never forget."

Luke paused and looked down, seemingly just realizing he was wearing only skin before turning back while nodding. "Right. Right." He grabbed from a pile of clothes near his bed, and shrugged into them as he walked to the door, getting there just as the knock sounded again. Luke ripped open the door, and looked down into the face of his most trusted employee. "What is it Caesar?"

"Uh, I just wanted to say, I'm going home now."

Seeing that Caesar was trying to sneak a peek behind him, Luke stood to his full height, and crossed his arms over his chest, effectively blocking any view into the apartment. "And you felt the need to wake me up to tell me that because…"

"Oh! Uh, sorry, boss. I forgot you go to bed early sometimes. I just wanted you to know everything is ready for the morning."

"Thank you for that completely unnecessary update, Caesar."

"You got it, boss."

As Caesar turned to walk away, Luke took a step out of the doorway. "And tell Patty that Lorelai isn't here."

"Will do boss! Wait, I wasn't supposed to say I was up here for Patty…"

"Goodnight, Caesar."

She waited until he closed the door and rounded the corner back to the bed, and quirked an eyebrow up at him as she readjusted the sheets, holding them up to her bare breasts. "Bold faced lying. I'm impressed, Luke."

Luke stripped out of his clothes, and slid under the covers, pulling her close to him. "This whole town needs to be locked up."

She snuggled close to his warm skin and let out a contented sigh. "You do realize Babette is going to be kicked out of the gossip club. Because, if I'm not here, then that means I'm at home, and that means she missed my arrival." As Luke ran his fingers over her hair, she sighed. "I can't believe we're still having to sneak around."

"Well, if you want, I'm sure there's a crowd still down there. We can go to the windows and wave at them."

She snorted. "Nah. I'm fine where I'm at. But…" She lifted her head to sneak a glance at the clock on the bedside table. "…I really should get up and get home. I told Rory I'd be home before midnight." She laid her head back down on Luke's chest, content to just lie in his warmth for a moment. Rory would still be up, and each minute she stayed with Luke, was one more minute that the crowd below could disperse.

After another 15 minutes, and when she felt herself drifting off to sleep, she knew she needed to move. The _last_ thing she needed was to get home in the wee hours of the morning and explain that off to Rory. Underneath her cheek, she could feel the even breaths of Luke, and felt the soft puffs of breath on her hair. He had definitely dozed off, and not wanting to wake him, she slowly extricated herself from his arms, and the sheets she had gotten tangled in.

As she gathered her clothes, she snuck into the bathroom to clean herself up, and get dressed. When she came out, two deep blue eyes were watching her.

"Was I that bad that you have to sneak out when I'm asleep?"

She snorted and crawled back on his bed, wrapping her arms around his torso. "Hon, if there was an option for me to never leave this bed, I would take it in a heartbeat. But, unfortunately, I have a kid to get back to, and a job in the morning." She leaned in a placed a soft kiss on his lips. "This was a really great first date."

He hummed his agreement and then looked in her eyes. "Let me drive you home."

While shaking her head, she scooted back off the bed. "No, don't do that. The second you leave, the gossip train will leave the station. I can walk home under the cover of night."

"Will you at least call me when you get home?"

"Aw, are you worried about me?"

"I'm always worried about you. Especially your health, but yes, I worry about you."

She sauntered over to the door, and grabbed her coat off the rack. "Yes, dad. I'll call you when I get home." With a wink tossed in his direction, she exited the apartment, and crept down the staircase and out the back door.

As she snuck through the back alley, she shook her head and chuckled. Everything seemed different, yet some things were still the same. Here she was, finally in a relationship with Luke, and yet, she was still sneaking out after spending some quality time with him. But at least this time, it was just because she didn't want to answer a million questions, versus having to own up for her actions. No, this sneaking around was much different.

After a few minutes, she turned into her driveway, and saw the lights in Babette's house were out, so she knew she would be able to get in without her neighbor seeing her. She walked up the stairs, and quietly opened the front door, just in case Rory was sleeping. But as she closed the door behind her and leaned against it, letting out a happy sigh, she could hear her name yelled from the other side of the house and knew Rory was still up.

"Mom!"

She pushed herself off the door just in time to catch the flying body that was her daughter in a hug. "Hey kid, what's going on?" Her words came out as a laugh at the enthusiasm of Rory.

"So, I finally had time tonight to go through all my notes, and it's not 100% for sure, but I'm 99% sure that I made it into the top 3% of my class!"

"Oh my god, Rory, there are so many numbers there, but they sound amazing!"

Ignoring her mother's comment, Rory continued on. "Yeah, I'll find out for sure next week, but I'm pretty sure!"

"Well then, that's good enough for me!" She put her arm around Rory's shoulders and steered her towards the kitchen. "We need to celebrate. This is amazing! I hope we have some ice cream or something to eat."

"Too bad the diner wasn't open, so we could get some pie. Hey, how was your date?"

Lorelai continued to the freezer as Rory sat at the table, and peered in, praying something would actually be in there. Her eyes lit up as she saw a Breyer's container, and a grin spread across her face when she opened it to actually see ice cream in there. "It was great, but this night is about you!" She put the ice cream down on the table in front of Rory, and moved to get a couple of plastic spoons from a drawer. As she sat beside her daughter, she handed over a spoon, and then reached for the ice cream container to dig out a spoonful. "We need to do something other than eat ice cream to celebrate. Ooo! We should go on a trip!"

"Mom. We can't go on a trip."

"Why not? It's almost the summer. You're almost done with school. Is there anywhere you wanted to go?"

Rory dug through the slowly melting ice cream and popped the spoon in her mouth as she thought. "Well, I always wanted to do one of those official tours at Harvard."

"Oh! That's perfect! We'll road trip it up there, and spend a few days. This will be great!"

"Yeah, but those tours are always really booked. Especially now with the kids who are actually going to Harvard next year."

She waved off Rory's concern. "Don't worry about them. I'll figure it out."

Rory put down her spoon, and stood up, wrapping her arms around her mom. "Thanks, Mom. But, I need to get to bed. I just wanted to tell you in person as soon as I knew."

Lorelai watched as her daughter went into her room, and shut the door behind her. The level of pride she had for Rory was making her heart swell. And as she stood up to return the ice cream container to the freezer and throw the spoons away, she couldn't help but think that the day had been a pretty decent one for the Gilmore girls.

As she walked by the phone on her way towards the stairs and noted there weren't any messages, her blood ran cold for a second when she realized she had promised Luke she would call him as soon as she had arrived home, and still hadn't. She reached for the receiver, and jumped a little when it rang in her hand. Knowing it could only be him, she answered with an apology. "I'm sorry!"

Her words were met with a sigh that sounded mixed between exasperation and relief. "What happened to calling when you got home? I was worried."

"I know, I know, but I have good news! Rory met me at the door and said she made the top 3% of her class!" While she talked, she walked up towards her room so that her voice wouldn't carry and keep Rory awake. When she made it to her bedroom, she shut the door behind her, and cradled the phone to her shoulder so she could start undressing and get ready for bed.

"That is good news! Make sure to bring her in for breakfast tomorrow, and I'll cook her something special."

"Aww, you don't have to do that Luke, but I know she would love it."

"Good."

"What about me? Do I get anything special? Or did I already get the Luke's special tonight?"

"Ah jeez. I'm hanging up now."

She couldn't help but snort. "Thank you for tonight, Luke. I had a great time."

"Good. I did too. Let's do something this weekend."

She nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Definitely."

...

The next morning, she was feeling on top of the world. After a fabulous first date, she woke up feeling refreshed. It was like she was running on six cups of coffee already, but she hadn't even had any yet. It was amazing what a good date could do for the psyche. She had been so on top of things, she had left the house before Rory, promising to stop and buy a paper before meeting up at the diner for breakfast.

After selecting the paper for Rory, a few magazines caught her eye, including one promising 25 sex positions guaranteed to rock a man's world. Guiltily intrigued – because she now officially had a man - and finally without her too young daughter around her, she reached for the magazine just to see what it had to say.

"What'cha reading?"

The sound of Rory's voice made her jump, and she pressed the magazine to her chest, desperate to stop the wild beating of her heart. "Oh god. Do not sneak up on a person like that."

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother's dramatics and pulled the magazine from her hands to see what it was. "Twenty five sex positions to blow your man's mind? Mom."

She swatted at the air in front of her daughter. "Never mind, you."

"I'm way too young to know you're reading stuff like this."

She could hear the teasing lilt of Rory's voice and narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Definitely. Let's go." With Rory's snicker, she turned to Bootsy to pay for the newspaper, feeling her face bloom with embarrassment. Bootsy never got along with Luke, and if he had overheard the topic of Lorelai's article interest, he would have no problem making it known to Luke – and would definitely do it to embarrass him. And Luke was irritated enough with the town's interest in their new-found relationship.

With the newspaper paid for, she pulled the magazine out of Rory's hand and was about to put it back in the rack when she heard her name ring out in the street.

"Lorelai!"

The sound of Patty's voice had Lorelai putting a hand up to her face. Luke was right with his sentiment of the town being crazy. "Oh jeez." She pulled her hand down to look up towards the voice, and watched as the rotund woman made her way towards her.

"So…."

With a fake smile plastered on her face, she answered, "Hi Patty."

"Cosmopolitan? Oh, you naughty, naughty girl. Your date went well?"

Cringing as she realized she was still holding that damn magazine, she managed to get out a timid, "Yeah, it went well."

Patty turned to Rory. "She said it went well!"

"I know!"

Fortunately, the fact that this conversation was happening right in front of her as if she couldn't hear, tempered her embarrassment of the magazine. So as she reached to put it away, she looked at the two women in front of her. "I'm right here." However, by jumping in, she was once again the center of attention, and knew she was in for some grilling.

"So you had a good time?"

"Oh yeah, I had a good time."

"Oh! I just love this! Have you seen your man-candy yet today?"

"Uh, not yet. But it just so happens we are on our way over there now to have some breakfast."

"Babette said she didn't even see you two come home last night, so it must have been a late one. I can't wait to see how he greets you. "

"Uh, ok." She looked at Patty expecting another response, but when none came, she suddenly felt awkward.

"Ok, let's go."

Thankful for Rory's interruption, she waved off Patty, and started towards the diner. "What's with this place? Why is everyone so interested in Luke and I?"

"They're interested in plenty other than you and Luke."

"You are pacifying me."

"Just a little."

"Well, I don't like it."

"I'll see if I can stop."

Thinking she heard something behind her, she quickly turned and realized that practically half the town was following her and Rory towards the diner. She shook her head, and muttered under her breath, "I can't wait for the movie theater to open." They crossed the street in front of the diner, pushed through the door, and when a quick scan of the diner turned up no sign of Luke, Lorelai pointed Rory towards an empty table near the window. Deciding ignorance was the best defense in this situation, after sitting down, Lorelai picked up a menu and started scanning its contents. "Hmm. Let's see, what looks good. I'm so unbelievably hungry I'm gonna have to order breakfast and lunch. Crazy, huh?"

"Mom, go say hi."

"I will."

"Now."

"Why?"

"Because in five minutes somebody's about to be pushed through that window."

Finally noticing the crowd at the window, she gasped. "This is crazy. Why is everybody making such a big deal about this?"

"Because everyone knows that you and Luke always had a thing for each other. They just want to see it for their own eyes. Just go say hi."

"Why? Nothing is going to happen. If anything, he's just going to yell at me for not waiting my turn."

"Will you get me a muffin when you're up there?"

"Ok. God. Fine." She huffed out a breath and stood up, making her way over to the counter where Luke was now standing. "Hey."

"Hey. Fresh coffee will be ready in a minute unless you wanna just roll up a dollar bill and go nuts."

She knew he was teasing, but didn't want to take the bait. If she did, invariably the two of them would start bantering, which would lead to shameless flirting, and since they were now technically able to make out in full public view, the rating of their interaction had the strong possibility of being ratcheted up from a family friendly G, to a strong PG-13. Especially after last night. So instead, she shook her head. "No thanks. I can wait." However, when she noticed Luke lift his eyes to the window and saw the pressing crowd, she worked hard to suppress a smile.

"What the hell's going on with them?"

"They're waiting for us to say hello for the first time after our first date. I'm assuming they're expecting us to jump each other's bones right here and now."

Luke's eyes widened fractionally, but then he returned his gaze to the receipts he was counting. "Crazy people. Whole town should be medicated and put in a rec room with ping pong tables and hand puppets. What?"

She had been staring at him while he did a mini rant, and couldn't help the smirk on her face. "Nothing. I just wanted to give a G rated 'hi' but definitely mention how much I enjoyed last night." When she spoke, she looked out of the corner of her eye to see if the people sitting closest to Luke were eavesdropping. They didn't seem to be, so she focused all of her attention back to the man in front of her.

Luke's lips twitched up imperceptibly, and he whispered back a soft, "hi."

Knowing full well they could properly say hello to each other at a later time when half the town wasn't watching, she nodded her head towards the pastry display at the far end of the counter. "Uh, I guess I'll just have two blueberry muffins and some coffee." Rory's special breakfast was going to have to wait until they didn't have the whole town watching what they were doing.

He nodded. "Coming right up." Luke walked to the other end of the counter, lifted the lid of the pastry container, and dropped two muffins into the to-go bag he had grabbed on his way. After rolling the bag closed, he walked back to Lorelai, passed it over and smiled. "Here you go. Two blueberry muffins."

"Thank you."

"Come again."

When Luke winked at her, she was fairly positive she was going to combust right then and there. His comment was so _dirty_ and he definitely knew it. He was teasing her, and essentially throwing a promise of what was to come, but she was so shocked that he said it, her eyes widened, and he was gone before she had a decent comeback. And besides, the diner was packed, and the peanut gallery was just outside. Now was not the time for anything. So, instead, she walked back to Rory, dropping the to-go bag of muffins on the table. When she noticed Rory was pressed up against the window, and the crowd outside had their attention diverted elsewhere, she had to sigh. "Now what's going on?"

"Kirk passed out."

She dropped down into her chair, and blew out another breath. "Here's your muffin."

"Thanks. Hey, so, did you say hi?"

When Rory winked at her, she just shook her head. "Eat your muffin."

After Rory ate her muffin and waved goodbye on her way out to catch the bus, the crowd began to disperse once it seemed evident there would be no floor show between the diner owner and the manager of the Inn. It finally seemed as though the hysteria had died down, so she grabbed her stuff and moved to her usual stool at the counter, now that it had been vacated.

The few patrons left in the diner were unrecognizable, and for the first time since she saw Patty, Lorelai felt herself relax. She swirled her to-go cup as the liquid inside was dangerously low, and she tilted her head back to shoot back the remains. When she looked back down, Luke was standing in front of her with a stunningly gorgeous smile on his face.

"Hey."

Her lips curled up in a matching smile. "Hey, yourself." She watched as Luke's eyes roamed the diner, and then was surprised when he leaned across the counter to capture her lips with his. However, once she felt his soft lips on hers, she melted into the kiss, and sighed into his mouth. After much too quick a moment, she felt him pulling back which tugged at her heart, but she knew they were in full public view, and were still testing their PDA comfort levels. They stared goofily at each other until someone behind her dropped a piece of cutlery on the floor, making them both jump and look guiltily around. However, clearly everyone in the joint had better things to do with their mornings and were paying no heed to the morning kiss.

With the moment passed, she decided to move on to the next happy topic. "So, Rory and I are going to take a road trip to celebrate her getting in the top 3% of her class."

"Oh yeah?" Luke had picked up a rag and was wiping down the counter in an attempt to get the diner back to normal after the breakfast rush.

"Yeah. We're going to do one of those official tour thingys of Harvard."

Luke stopped his cleaning, and looked up at Lorelai. "That'll be fun for you two. That's one good kid, there. I knew she could do it."

Grinning because of his pride for her daughter, she nodded. "Yeah. I'm so proud of her, Luke. She started so late at the school and has had such a rough time fitting in, but she's doing it."

"Of course she's doing it. She's Rory. I still want to do something for her though since you two blew off her breakfast this morning."

She held up her hands in mock surrender. "Hey, you saw that crowd out there. I was only thinking of your windows. The longer we stayed, the greater the possibility of someone being pushed through one." When Luke merely narrowed his eyes at her, she continued. "Oh! How about you cook her a special dinner? I know she would love that. And hopefully there won't be a crowd this time."

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Maybe I'll come cook at your house and then she can have leftovers."

The thought of Luke cooking in her house had her heart warming. "That sounds fantastic."

"Hey, don't you have to get to work?"

She looked down at her watch and frowned. "Oh, shoot. Yes." She tapped the top of her coffee cup. "Can I have another one of these for the road?"

Luke rolled his eyes, but took her empty to-go cup and threw it in the trash, while grabbing another to fill. He placed it in front of her and winked. "Am I going to see you tonight?"

As she stood up, she frowned again. "Probably not. It's Friday, so, dinner with the Gilmores."

"Ah."

She could hear the disappointment in his voice and knew she felt the same. "Call me tonight?"

"You bet."

Before she turned to leave, she leaned in so that her voice wouldn't carry. "You going to watch me walk out?"

"You bet."

A small giggle escaped, and she turned to walk away, throwing in a little extra swagger to her step. When she looked back, he was definitely watching her, so she winked at him, and then slipped through the door.

...

Somehow, miraculously, she had scored two spots on a tour of Harvard for later that summer, and found out during Friday night dinner, which caused mass confusion as she and Rory celebrated in front of Emily and Richard. Of course, she and Rory hadn't let on as to why they were celebrating, because instinctually they both knew that if either grandparent knew of the trip, it would be hijacked in true Gilmore fashion.

The next day, she was dying to tell Sookie the great news about Rory. She had held back telling people other than Luke for fear of jinxing Rory's assumption, but since Emily was already spreading the news, Lorelai figured she was safe. So finally, after way too long being trapped at the front desk, she saw her chance to move for the kitchen, and took it, bursting through the doors already in mid-sentence. "Hey. I have an announcement to make, and it's big and it's fabulous and you are not gonna believe it."

"Goodbye."

She frowned at Michel's imminent departure. "Wait, I got news."

"Oh, well I'm sure it's very exciting. Excuse me."

"But…" Before she got a chance to say anything else, her attention was captured by slices of turkey on a scale, and her mind was instantly onto a new topic. "What's with the turkey?"

"Oh, Michel thinks he's gonna live forever."

"Like on Fame?"

"That's what I said!"

She couldn't help but smile at her friend. While Sookie was definitely a little different than most people, there were times when Lorelai felt like she was looking in a mirror at herself.

"Hmm. A hundred years from now I will sit around telling my fellow man of science about the two of you and we will giggle like little girls at your ignorance. Now I have work to do."

She watched as Michel breezed by her and out the door into the front lobby area before turning her attention back to Sookie. "He did say "giggle like little girls," right?"

Sookie waved her off. "Forget him. Tell me about your fabulous news."

Right, she had forgotten about that. Damn her wandering mind. "Rory got in the top 3% of her class!"

"What?"

"She's officially smarter than we thought she was!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!

"No!"

"No?"

"What?"

She huffed out a breath. The back and forth was getting nauseating. "Sookie!"

"God, this is amazing! Oh my god, I'm shaking!"

"Yeah, and Luke offered to come over and cook her a special dinner, and I was thinking you could make some great desserts. Oh! Maybe we could make it into a town party!" Her mind began to wander as she spoke, thinking of all the possibilities of what the party could be. Luke would still want to do something small with just the three of them, but maybe they could do an early dinner, and then everyone else could come over later.

"Luke is coming over? To cook? In a boyfriend capacity?"

"Uh…yes?" She wasn't sure where Sookie was going with the question, but decided the best answer here was honesty so she could get to the root of the situation.

"Ok, good good good. Oh, I knew it. I knew Rory could do it, and I knew you'd be dating Luke."

"Really? God, I didn't. Well, Rory, yes. Luke, no."

"Ok, let's start a menu. If Luke is cooking the main course, I could do something light to eat afterwards." Sookie's words ended with a sob, and Lorelai moved to her friend.

"Sookie? Honey? Hey, what's with the waterworks, lady?"

"It's just…I don't know. You raised that little girl all alone, and she is so great, and you work your butt off here and you go to school and you put up with me."

"Aww, honey."

"You just really deserve someone like Luke to be with you."

"Thank you." She let the moment sink in for a little bit, and then shifted her thoughts back to food. "Ok, so you're saying something like appetizers for afterwards. Oh! Aftertizers. Huh? Huh?" She looked at Sookie's blank look at her joke and shook her head. "Never mind. Ok, something light…"

She worked with Sookie on the menu and possible party ideas until Michel came in demanding assistance up front. With a quick wave to Sookie, she drifted out front, already looking forward to the makeshift party for Rory, and doubly so for the evening's planned movie night.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, and when Rory called to see if Dean could come over for movie night, Lorelai readily agreed. Deep down, she wanted to call Luke and see if he wanted to come over as well, as sort of a double date, but she knew he would decline. They were still way too early in their actual dating relationship to dive into the usual horrors of double dates.

...

As the week wore on, Lorelai could tell that Rory was getting more and more nervous about bringing Dean to her special Friday night dinner, and she could feel those nerves starting to rub off on her. Thankfully, she and Luke had been able to spend some time together here and there, which was infinitely calming, but her nerves were still shot.

So, as she left the Inn Friday afternoon, she noticed she had a good 20 minutes before she needed to be home to change for dinner, and decided to go see her guy and get some coffee, because there wasn't really anything better for calming nerves than coffee.

Her usual stool was open at the counter, so she headed in that direction, sat down, and laid her head on the counter.

"That's really unsanitary. People eat off that counter."

Without lifting her head, she answered. "Well, clearly the service here is lacking then if food is being served without plates." When she heard the clang of a coffee mug placed beside her ear, and the sweet sound of liquid being poured into said cup, she finally lifted her head to look at Luke. "I have Friday night dinner tonight."

"So I guessed."

"Dean is coming tonight."

"So you've told me. Several times."

She sat back and pouted. "This is going to be terrible. My parents are terrible people, and they're going to terrible."

"So, it's going to be terrible?"

She continued as if Luke hadn't even spoken. "I'm tempted to just send Rory and Dean, but I know they'll need a buffer, and that'll be me. And then somehow everything is going to end up being my fault."

"Well, at least you have a plan."

"Hey, you should come too! Rory considers you a friend."

Luke quirked up an eyebrow. "Didn't you say this thing was going to be terrible?"

"Well, yeah…"

"So, then, no."

"Aw, Luke, come on! It'll be fun! We can sit together, maybe sneak out back and make out while they attack Dean…it'll provide stories for years!"

Luke walked down to the other end of the counter and picked up some dirty plates, and dumped them into the bin under the counter before returning. "Tempting, but no."

She knew Luke was going to say no, but pouted just the same. "Fine." She reached down and took a few sips from her mug of coffee. "You going to be around tonight?"

He nodded. "Just call when you're back."

With a glance at her watch, she took a few big gulps, and dug into her wallet for a few dollar bills. "Will do." When Luke reached out to cover her hand with his and squeezed, she felt like no matter what happened that night, she'd be able to handle it. With a quick smile to Luke, she turned and walked out the door, preparing herself for the worst.

...

The moment she walked in the house after the disastrous dinner as Rory stayed outside to comfort Dean, Lorelai had called Luke, and requested he come over. She couldn't handle the eyes of the town on her which would happen at the diner, but needed Luke's quiet comfort still the same. He thankfully had agreed to come over in half an hour, which worked out perfectly, because Rory still needed some time to vent. Moments after Rory escaped into her room with the phone pressed to her ear, Lorelai heard a soft rapping at the front door and knew her escape had arrived. She answered the door, and let out a long sigh of relief to see Luke standing there. Motioning with her head, she closed the door behind her, and tangled her fingers with Luke's before pulling him to the porch swing and pulling him down beside her.

"It was awful." As she said the words, she leaned into Luke's side, feeling comforted as he put his arm around her shoulders to draw her closer.

"Sounds it."

"They're insane."

"Pot, meet kettle."

She pulled back slightly so she could narrow her eyes at him, but with the way his eyes were dancing with delight, she knew he was teasing, so just settled back into his embrace. "How can I fix this?"

He breathed deeply. "I think this is one of those things you just need to let work out on their own."

"Yeah, I'm not real good with those things."

"I know. You'll figure it out though."

She exhaled slowly. "Yeah. Hopefully. At least for once though, I wasn't the one in the line of fire."

"Small wins."

As the porch swing gently swung, she allowed herself to just relax in Luke's strong embrace. And for once, she didn't even care if Babette was giving a play-by-play over the phone about what was going on, because right here, right now, she was wrapped in her boyfriend's arms, protected from the world outside.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it. I give all credit to the writers of this fantastic show for the dialogue I've borrowed.

 **Author's Notes:** Thank you all so much for the reviews already! And a special thank you to **PurryCat** for pointing out I confused Hartford and Harvard. They're just too similar in my head. ;)

So, the trip planned is supposed to be to Harvard. Which, makes sense with canon in the show, but I wanted to confirm that for you all. I did go ahead and edited the first chapter to reflect that, but major apologies for that screw up. That's what happens when I'm beta-less.

Anyways, on with the show!

* * *

 **Two and Three**

She always prided herself as one of those "go with the flow" type people, and as such, could roll with any topic brought up at pretty much any given time. However, when Rory announced she was going to build a house the following day, she was thrown. This was so unlike her daughter that she couldn't even think of what to properly say about it, other than the required mocking, but that was quickly put to rest by Rory, and their arrival at Friday night dinner.

The evening then continued its theme of unusual, when Emily welcomed them with a quick hello and a request they eat quickly. However, when her father came down, he pulled Rory off to the side, and Lorelai found herself stuck with her mother, and an awkward silence. She poked around at her salad, trying to think of anything to say, because clearly Emily was upset about something, but nothing came to mind. She kept glancing in the direction where her father and Rory had gone, but they seemed to have no intention of coming back any time soon.

When she heard the backdoor open, a flood of relief washed over her that finally she would have her human buffer of Rory back in the room, but the relief was short lived as Rory and Richard breezed by in the direction of his study. Thankfully, it seemed as though they had made up after last week's dinner, but unfortunately, that left her in the room with her mother, who was definitely stewing about something. As Lorelai went through her mental catalogue of things that had recently changed in her life which could possibly upset her mother, the main thing that came to mind was her new relationship with Luke. Had Rory slipped and said something? Had she? There was always the possibility of using a plural pronoun instead of a singular one, but even that, the plural could have included Rory. Maybe it was Rory's party? Lord knows Rory's 16th birthday party had created some bad blood. Or maybe it was a combination of the two?

She sighed. Her mother always had a sixth sense about these things, so the current attitude more than likely had something to do with Luke and/or the party, and the sooner she came clean about it, the better. At very least, it was something to break the silence with. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I have something to tell you."

"Yes?"

"Well, it's like this. Um…could you put down your fork for a second?" She watched as her mother deliberately put down her fork, and forced eye contact. "Thank you. Ok, um, you know Luke?"

"The diner man, yes."

"Uh, yeah. Ok, um, the…so, Luke and I have been spending more time together lately, uh…seeing each other, actually…and because of that, we've planned this party together for Rory to celebrate her getting in the top 3% of her class, and I was wondering if you'd like to come." When she finished her stumbling statement, she had to think back to what she said to make sure it even made sense.

"Well, I think that's very nice. I certainly hope we'll be in town for it, but if not, I promise we'll give something to Rory the next time we see her. Now excuse me, I'm going to check on the roast."

She watched as Emily got up and moved into the kitchen, and hung her head in defeat. Why had she even said anything? Clearly, the topic of the party had been the correct one which was bothering Emily, but now that it was out in the open, Lorelai just felt even worse about things, especially since her mother had seemingly completely ignored the mention of Luke's involvement in everything. Finally, Rory and Richard returned, and both seemed to be in better moods, but she didn't have the energy or desire to effectively add to any conversation the rest of the evening.

Mercifully, Emily kept to her "eat quickly" request, and they were able to leave the house of horrors much earlier than usual, but even the car ride home did nothing to lighten the dark mood she was in. She had no interest in talking, and thankfully Rory seemed to pick up on that, only asking briefly what happened, and was accepting of a short explanation. Rory didn't even make a comment when Lorelai turned in the direction of the diner rather than the house once they made it into town.

Parking seemed to be at a premium for once, and they had to park further from the diner than she would have liked, but the fresh air was welcomed in her lungs.

"Are you ok?"

Rory finally braved the silence with the simple question, but Lorelai wanted nothing of it. Her singular drive at the moment was the welcoming embrace of the diner, and the warm refuge of her favorite beverage served, hopefully, by her favorite man. "I'm perfect."

"Really?"

"I have hit a level of perfection that has rarely been seen outside the Victoria's Secret catalog."

"I'm really sorry."

Rory's apology had her softening a little bit. It wasn't Rory's fault at all, but the kid was always trying to make those around her feel better. "Aww, do not be sorry. What happened tonight was inevitable."

"Mom."

"I should've known not to tell my mother."

"You were trying to be nice."

"Telling her I was seeing a wonderful guy who actually seems to understand me and wants to make me happy to the point of helping to plan a party for you. That, and giving her my address when I finally moved out. Two worst moves I've ever made."

"Maybe she'll think about it and call you and say she's sorry."

"Mom, I'm seeing someone for a while and we're planning a party together. I'm an idiot. And you know, as my mouth was opening, my mind was screaming, 'Don't do it, I mean it, you'll regret it!' But did my mouth listen?"

"No."

"No! And it opened and the words came out, and Emily was Emily, and my mouth was stunned. And my mind said 'I told you so' and then my mouth got mad because no mouth likes to have its nose rubbed in it. And now my mind and my mouth aren't talking, and it'll be weeks before we can get the boys together again."

"Your mouth has a nose?"

At Rory's question of the one detail she seemed to have grasped onto from Lorelai's mini rant, they finally made it to the diner and walked in. The atmosphere of the place wormed its way into Lorelai's head, and as always, softened her. However, today, it didn't make her feel that much better – it just made her realize her true emotions. "God, I'm crabby."

"You're hungry."

She collapsed into one of the chairs at a table and huffed out a breath. "No, I'm not."

"Well, you didn't eat any of your dinner."

"Yeah, well, by the time I could get my jaw off the ground, Speed Racer had taken my plate." As she finished talking, she could feel a familiar presence enter her near vicinity, but she was too set in her crabbiness to really enjoy it.

"Luke will cheer you up, won't you Luke?"

"Oh sure, I'm great at spreading the joy. What'll you have?"

"We'll have two coffees and a rant meal, please. Extra cheese."

She shook her head at Rory's order. "No."

"Why?"

"I'm through ranting. The rant is over." She looked up at her man with resolve in her eyes. "I'll have an acceptance meal and a side of fries."

"Please, you have not accepted this."

She looked back at her daughter as she felt her frustration levels beginning to rise once again. "I am a grown woman. I do not need my mother's permission or blessing to be happy."

"Must've been a good Oprah today."

She shook her head at Luke. "Just a little family drama. No biggie."

"It's a little biggie."

She could feel Luke's attitude shift from pretending to be his usual grumpy self for the sake of the other diners in the place, to actual concern about her, and her assumption was correct when he joined in on Rory's concern.

"Yeah? What's going on?"

This was the last conversation she wanted to be having right now, especially in the public area of the diner, but it seemed to be unavoidable, so she looked up at him. "I kind of told my mother about you and I, and the party we're planning for Rory, and it was slightly ugly." She watched as his eyes momentarily showed a sliver of fear before hardening as he looked down at his notepad.

"Yup."

Really? That's all he had to say? There had to be more, right? "Yup, what?"

"Well, there's nothing like a new relationship to screw up a family."

She quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head. "Actually, in my case, there's nothing like a family to screw up a family."

"Something that's supposed to start nice, two people meeting and actually wanting to spend time together. I like you, you like me, I can't imagine how I slept before without you by my side. And then it starts."

"Well, that's not exactly…"

"When are you two going to get married? When are you going to have kids?"

She could sense Luke was working his way up to a full rant, and she just didn't have the energy for it tonight, so she tried to interrupt him by saying his name, but he continued as if she hadn't even spoken.

"Are you sure you really want to send Junie and Momo to that school?"

However, as much as she didn't want to encourage the continuation of the rant, Luke's choice of names begged for an explanation, and she couldn't help herself from questioning them. "Junie and Momo?"

"Just an example."

"Of circus kids?"

"And then after all that work to get them to grow up, retirement will be a disaster because no matter what you do or how carefully you plan, one of the kids will end up meeting some punk, and decide to move back home, and suddenly you're supporting their deadbeat significant other who likes videogames more than a real job."

She sighed. "You know, the Gettysburg Address was only one page long, and that was about a war."

"I just call them like I see them."

Normally Luke's rants sped up her heart rate, and had desire rocketing through her body, but this rant was just leaving her even more frustrated than usual. Since their relationship was so new, there was the possibility he was unconsciously voicing his fears of a serious relationship, but she had a hunch he was just ranting about why he had avoided them for so long. Clearly, this was going to need to be a discussion between the two of them at another time, but for now, she just wanted to eat. "I have officially changed my order. I'll have the 'Luke's giving Lorelai a Migraine' meal."

Luke looked down to his notepad, and wrote down the order. "Bleu cheese or ranch?"

"Both."

He nodded. "Coming right up," and turned and walked to the kitchen to put in the order.

Once her meal arrived and she had some real food in her body, she felt herself finally returning to normal, and wanted to relax and enjoy her coffee. So when Rory said she was just going to walk home so she could get to bed for her early start, she waved her away, and settled in for a while longer.

"How's the head?"

Luke's voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up into those clear blue eyes of his. "Hmm?"

He gestured towards her head as he spoke. "The migraine."

She smiled. "Ah. The magic elixir combination of bleu cheese and ranch has cured it."

"You realize that's disgusting, right?"

"But, effective." She put down her mug, and reached up to take his hand, tugging on it to get him to sit down next to her. "Hey, sorry about earlier."

"No problem. Sorry about my rant."

"You weren't talking about us, right?"

He shook his head. "No. I mean, I do hate how once people get in a relationship, suddenly everyone has an opinion on how that relationship should function, but no, I wasn't talking about us."

She nodded. "Good." They gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments before she spoke again. "Hey, do you have a spare hammer I could have?"

The unexpectedness of the question threw him a little, and he narrowed his eyes. "Do I want to know why?"

"Rory is doing some charity project tomorrow where she's helping to build a house. I wanted to send her along with something to remind her of me while she works."

"And you think a hammer is going to remind her of you? Why, because of your hard head?"

"No. Because I'm going to make it pretty."

"I should expect to never get this hammer back, right?"

"Not unless you want a fabulously accessorized hammer. Actually, Bert might really enjoy it. Give him a little something to look at."

Luke rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'll be right back."

She grinned and went back to sipping her coffee. Yup, she was definitely feeling better.

...

After sending Rory off to be a good citizen, she hurried upstairs to get ready for work. She had stayed up way too late accessorizing the hammer, but she felt good about it, and it made her happy to see it look so pretty. It was also nice to know that Rory had a little piece of not only her, but Luke, to help her out with her day.

The day flew by, but only because it was abnormally busy. It was one of those days where problems seemed to come out of nowhere, and as soon as one problem was fixed, another one would sprout from somewhere else. As such, she was late leaving, and had to rush home to get ready for her date with Luke that night. After finding a hammer for her, she helped him to close the diner, and he offered to take her to a nice restaurant to make up for the awful Friday night dinner. But as she zipped herself into the dress she knew he loved, she glanced quickly at the clock and realized he would be at the front door before she knew it. While she moved around the room getting ready, she could feel exhaustion seeping from her bones, and she knew without a doubt that if she had plans with anyone other than Luke that evening, she would have called to cancel, and climbed instead into her pajamas and warm bed.

At least Rory was home, as she had heard her daughter's yell a few minutes earlier, so she was looking forward to hearing about the house building day, but another glance at the clock told her the conversation was going to have to wait until later that evening, or the next day unless Rory could give the Cliff Notes version. Grabbing a purse and some shoes, she ran down the stairs, and moved towards the kitchen, talking as she walked. "Ok, I'm officially way too tired to go out tonight, so I'm not trusting my accessorizing instincts. Tell me what you think."

"I have no wilderness skills."

If her daughter had picked up nothing else from her, at least she had picked up her ability to flawlessly change a conversation to something she wanted to talk about. "So, you hate the purse?"

"How am I supposed to get into Harvard if I have no wilderness skills?"

Sighing as she realized she would have to actually pause on her rush to get ready and help her kid, she looked to Rory. "I don't know, honey. Maybe you'll have to give up your dream of majoring in logging."

"I called the Fireflies. Do they need troop leaders? Yes. Good, I'll be a troop leader. Great. The only catch is, it's summer. Camping season. I need wilderness skills. Why did you never take me camping?"

"Camping? Are you kidding? I couldn't get you to step on wet grass until you were three."

"If you had taken me camping, I'd have wilderness skills."

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll take you upstairs. I'll throw you out the window. If you manage to grab that tree, I'll be your witness."

As Rory babbled about the numerous places she had been turned down at for volunteering, and then explained about her fight with Dean, Lorelai could only sigh. Rory was freaking out, and definitely needed some company, so Lorelai knew she needed to rewire her brain from being excited about going out on a date with Luke, to focusing on spending time with her kid. "Ugh. Well, listen, why don't I cancel on Luke tonight, and I'll hang out here with you. We can make popcorn and reminisce about how I never forced you to become a missionary."

"No, go, I'm fine." Rory waved off her mother, and looked down once again at her list of possible places to volunteer. "I just need to focus on this."

"Well, I can help."

"No, I need to do this alone."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

She felt guilty about the wave of relief that coursed through her at Rory's words, but couldn't help the excitement of knowing her date with Luke was saved for the evening. "Ok, well, I'm not gonna be home late. And I'll ask Luke if maybe he can take you out camping. He's got wilderness skills that I'm sure he can pass on to you. And listen, I would reconsider calling Dean. It's not his fault that you're so fabulous he can't think about anything else."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Bye Mom."

"I mean, he just sits in his room, eating Fruit Loops out of the box, saying your name over and over and over."

"Luke is going to be here any minute."

"Rory, I love you Rory. Rory, I will not be ignored Rory…"

A soft knocking at the door interrupted her bit, and Rory started shooing her towards the front entryway. "There, Luke is here. Leave."

"Ok, I'll be home early." She stood up and leaned down to place a kiss on her daughter's head, hoping Rory would take her advice and call Dean. With a final wave, she moved quickly to the front door, and when she opened it to find Luke looking more handsome than usual, she felt all of her earlier weariness drift away. "Hi there." The soft grin he gave her had her spirits lifting.

"You ready?"

"Mmmhmm."

He gestured with his head towards the truck, "let's go," and rested a hand on the small of her back as he guided her across the yard.

During the drive to the restaurant, she knew she was being abnormally quiet, but her mind was solidly on Rory and her freak out. It was so unlike Rory to be so thrown by something, and it was really bothering her. And of course, thinking about Rory made her mind drift to the party that was being planned, which then of course led to how Emily had reacted the night before. As such, once they arrived at the restaurant, even though she had known it was going to be a relatively fancy place, she was kind of thrown by just how fancy it was. The longer she was with Luke, the more she learned about him, but never would she have assumed he would go to a place like this. For some reason, she always pictured him at quaint, family-owned restaurants, which exuded comfort.

"The food is good here."

It was as if he was reading her thoughts, and she looked up at him from her wine glass. "Hmmm?"

"You're probably wondering how the hell I even know about a place like this. I wanted to take you some place nice, and came here once. The food was really good."

She smiled at his thoughtfulness, but even when the food arrived, she found herself only picking at it as her mind was now solidly stewing about her mother.

"You hate it."

His words had guilt slicing through her, and she looked up at him to shake her head. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel as though she hated anything he did for her. "No I don't."

"Lorelai, I've known you long enough to know that if the plate isn't already clean, you don't like it."

"It's not that."

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head not wanting to drag Luke into this situation. Not tonight. Not while they were out on a fancy date. "It's fine."

Luke reached across the table and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You can tell me. That's what I'm here for."

She snorted. "I thought it was just for eye candy."

"That too."

She sighed. He knew her too well for her to brush off the situation. "It's just stuff, ya know. Rory's freaking out about not having enough extracurricular things to impress Harvard with. Apparently she needs wilderness skills for that required logging class they have all journalists take."

Luke frowned at her comment. He didn't know a lot about required courses, but he was fairly certain that logging was not one of them - especially for journalism - which meant Lorelai was exaggerating as usual. "I can help her wilderness skills. We could go camping one weekend." At Lorelai's look, he continued. "Or, a day."

"I'm sure she would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Luke."

"Is that all that's wrong?"

"Well, there's also the added topic of my mother, but that's kind of standard."

Luke nodded. "Hey. We ok?"

He knew her way too well. She nodded her assent. They were fine, but for whatever reason, her mother's response to her the night before was really bothering her, so of course, she needed to talk about it. "It's just…I can't get that one moment out of my mind. 'That's nice. I hope we're in town.' Who, who, who reacts like that? I mean, what sort of mind forms that reaction to 'Hey mom, my new boyfriend who makes me extremely happy and I are throwing a party for your favorite granddaughter.'"

"Well, I have met your parents, so, that's not too surprising…"

She continued as if he hadn't said anything, regardless of how correct this statement was. "You figure out a different way. You tap into compassion or family obligation or something. You don't react like that."

"Lorelai, you know who they are, and you know it kills you every time you think you can change them."

She waved a hand in the air, indicating she was done with the topic. "Ok, you know what? I don't want to talk about my parents anymore. I don't want to speculate about them, I don't want to analyze them, I don't want to think about them anymore. We should go."

"Come on, it's still early. Let's go get you some coffee."

"Yes. Absolutely. Sounds good."

However, for one of the few times in her life, coffee was the furthest thing from her mind. Instead, she directed Luke in the direction of her parents' house, because all she wanted at that moment was to give her mother a piece of her mind. As they drove up, and parked in front of the door, Luke leaned across the seat and gripped her hand.

"Lorelai, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"

She looked up into his eyes, and could see his concern for her, and in that moment, she knew she needed to confront her mother. Luke and Rory were too important to be brushed off by anyone, even Emily Gilmore. However, there was no way she was going to allow Luke to witness whatever went down, so she squeezed his hand. "This'll just take a second. You know me, Luke. I can't let things fester like this. I need to understand why she was so indifferent to Rory's party. If it was my party, I could understand, but for Rory, it just doesn't make sense, and it's bothering me. I need to know."

His tongue darted out to moisten his dry lips, and he squeezed her hand back. "I'll be here."

She smiled her gratitude before climbing out of the truck and slamming the door behind her. When she reached the front door, she rang the doorbell several times, and kept ringing until she could hear footsteps on the other side. The door opened to Emily, and Lorelai swept past her into the foyer, talking as she moved. "Hi Mom, do you have a sec to chat? Super." Normally, she always had the right words for a situation. The proper anecdote or reference was always at the tip of her tongue, but tonight her emotions were getting the better of her, and she found herself questioning her mother why maids never lasted longer than a week in the house. But when her mother turned to walk away from her, her words finally returned, and she finally was able to ask the question that had been demanding an answer for the past day. "And why is it that when I told you Luke and I are planning a party for Rory, you can't muster up even a little enthusiasm? Even a little fake enthusiasm? You dismissed it like I said, 'Hey, I'm thinking of getting a Honda, what do you think?'"

"You're obviously hysterical."

"Why don't you care? I thought you cared about Rory, Mom!"

"I'm not discussing this with you."

"Do you know how it felt for me to hear that you would brush off Rory just like you brush off me? Do you know?" Her words finally seemed to have struck a chord, and she stepped back slightly when her mother reared around to face her, anger written all over her face.

"No, I don't. I don't know! Possibly very similar to finding out from a complete stranger that my only daughter had a boyfriend who obviously meant so much to her that he was the one she turned to to plan something for my only granddaughter. And that apparently every other person in the world knew about this relationship of my daughter's before she bothered to tell her own mother. Possibly it felt something like that. Now, if you'll excuse me, it is late, and I'm going to bed."

When her mother opened the door, she pushed through it immediately, her emotions clouding the enormity of what had just happened. But as she took a moment on the front stoop, with her head in her hands, she thought over the argument. While she had been singularly focused on the fact that her mother was seemingly dismissive of Rory's party, Emily was in fact more upset about the fact that she knew nothing about the importance of Luke in Lorelai's life. And when Lorelai felt Luke's strong arms surround her, drawing her in so she could rest her head on his chest and softly cry, she had to admit her mother was right. Luke was more important than any other man in her life, which was why she allowed him to be involved with Rory. But his presence meant her parents were starting to shut out Rory like they had done to her for so many years, and she wasn't sure how she was going to deal with that.

...

The next day, she was exhausted. After their date, Luke had come home with her, and while she worked on last minute preparations for the party, he started prepping a few things for Rory's dinner. As such, they got to bed way too late, and when his alarm went off only a few short hours later so he could get back to the diner to open, it woke her up, and she laid awake thinking about the conversation with her mother until her alarm went off. When she finally climbed out of bed, her exhaustion meant it took her longer than usual to get ready, so she didn't have time to stop at the diner for coffee, causing her instead to go searching for it in the kitchen of the Inn.

She felt her frustrations begin to boil over when Sookie said there wasn't any coffee, especially when her friend tried to stop her from entering the kitchen to make her own. But when she walked in and saw hundreds of tiny pastries, she put her hand to her mouth and gasped. "Oh my god. What is this?"

"Uh, the dinner special?"

"The dinner special is pastries with pictures of Rory on them?"

"I couldn't find any good salmon."

"Sookie, you weren't supposed to go this big. It was just supposed to be some light appetizers for people to eat while they were dancing."

"I know! But I just got so excited about the whole thing, and I know you and Luke have a special family dinner planned beforehand, but I know the town likes to come out and support you and Rory, so I wanted to make sure there was enough food."

She walked through the kitchen looking at all of the pastries and the printed pictures adorning some of them. Most were of only Rory, but a few included her, and when she saw one with her parents, her heart stopped for a second as she thought back to the words her mother had thrown at her the night before. "Hey, you didn't by any chance talk to my parents about this, did you?"

"Actually, I did."

"Oh."

"And at first, I was really torn because I know you have issues with them, but I really wanted to see if they had any more photos I could use, and I told them everything you and Luke were doing to plan this, and I assumed you had told them about it too. Oh no, had you not told them?"

"Not really."

"Aw, sweetie, I'm so sorry. Are they coming tonight?"

"Uh, yeah, no, um, they already had plans."

"Oh, too bad. Hey, we can save them a piece of cake."

"That would be nice."

Thankfully, as usual, the town really came together to help with the event, and by the time she got home, there were already tables, chairs, and a DJ stand scattered through her yard, Babette's yard, and down the driveway that various townsfolk had told her she could borrow for the party. And as she walked in the front door, the delicious smell of food wafting through the air had her forgetting all the drama with her parents. Today was Rory's day, and Luke was making them a special dinner.

As the three of them sat around her kitchen table, eating and enjoying each other's company, she couldn't help but think about how wonderful this moment was. And as members of the town started showing up, and the house started filling with people, she knew that all was ok in her world. Her mother always had a way of pushing her buttons, but all she needed to cure the hurt brought on by her mother, was this town and the people in it.

Later that evening, she sat on the stairs of her porch, occasionally looking up to greet various friends as they walked by. Her attention however, was focused on watching Rory, and she couldn't help but smile as she saw Dean walk up and the two of them chat. Rory seemed to have gotten over her Harvard concerns – with special thanks to Luke who promised to teach her some wilderness skills – and all seemed to be right with the world once again. In fact, the only annoyance seemed to come from one special town member, and she sighed as she pushed herself up and off the stairs, heading in the direction of the overflowing food tables. When she reached her destination, she held out her hand. "Hey Kirk. Can I see that for a sec?"

"Oh, sure."

"Thanks." When her hands clasped around the bullhorn Kirk had been shouting into for the past half hour, she smiled at him and walked away, back towards the house. Once inside, she went straight for the kitchen, seeking out the one person she wanted to see at the moment. Sure enough, she found him there, hiding from the party. "Hey."

He looked up from various appetizers he was moving from various plates to fill up a full plate. "Hey. Why aren't you outside?"

She shrugged, and moved towards him, placing her hands on the appetizers so he would stop what he was doing, and tugged his hand to one of the kitchen chairs. When he sat, she settled herself sideways on his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "I came looking for you. Just wanted to say thank you again. For everything. Rory's having a really great time." When she felt him tighten his grasp on her waist, and press a kiss to her hair, she felt herself relaxing even more.

"You're welcome."

...

"How did I get rooked into this?"

She grasped Luke's hand as they walked across the town square, heading towards Miss Patty's. "Uh, I'm irresistible?" She didn't even have to look at him to know he was rolling his eyes at her.

"Yeah. Well, have I mentioned I hate town meetings?"

"No. I thought you said you hate clown bleedings, which, I totally agree with." As they neared the dance studio, a stray thought crossed her mind wondering why there were so many people milling around. Usually there was a good turnout for meetings, but there seemed to be more people than usual. And, as usual, Luke seemed to be having similar thoughts to her.

"Oh, no. Is tonight raffle night? I can't deal with raffle night."

She shook her head. She didn't think it was, but even if she was wrong, she'd never admit that to Luke now. "No, it's not raffle night. Look, I promise we won't stay for the whole thing. It'll be like a stop by. We'll just run in and get the highlights, and then we're off to the movie."

"Do not get used to me going to these town things. Just because you like them does not mean that I will ever like them or tolerate them or go to them."

"Hmm. Other than tonight?"

"Yes. Other than tonight."

"And next Thursday."

"I did not say I would go next Thursday." Luke paused as if to think about the current conversation before continuing. "What the hell is next Thursday?"

She couldn't help but grin at him as she made it to the steps of the building, and looked down at him. His face was mirroring hers, and when he tugged lightly on her jacket, pulling her closer to him, his warm breath cascaded over her ear as he leaned close.

"Don't even think you're getting away with something you're not."

She pulled back and bit her bottom lip, a small giggle escaping her lips before she scrambled up the steps and in the door, with Luke following close behind. The meeting was already in progress, so she wordlessly pulled Luke to a couple of empty chairs near the back of the room, and settled in to hear Gypsy and Andrew arguing about a recent fender bender. Giddy about the instant entertainment, she leaned close to Luke, and whispered in his ear, "do we have timing, or what?" With rapt attention, she listened to the back and forth of the argument, while reaching into her purse to pull out a licorice, and making sure to offer one to Luke, who predictably waved her off.

The entertainment factor was high in the meeting, and when she reached for another snack, she felt Luke lean into her.

"We're going to dinner after the movie."

"I know." With the argument winding down, and only a vote required for who was at fault, she felt her attention waning, and looked down into her purse to see what other snacks she had brought. However, as Taylor introduced the next topic of discussion, she began to tune back in, and felt her blood run cold when she heard the words 'inn manager and diner owner dating.' She gasped and turned to Luke. "That's us."

"They're talking about us."

It was if she was in a dream, and she couldn't process her emotions as Taylor continued speaking.

"Now, as you all know, the relationship we have feared for some time has emerged, and we need to carefully consider whether or not we can support this."

She heard herself mutter an 'oh my god' but wasn't sure if anyone else heard it. Maybe she hadn't even said it out loud, but before she could turn to Luke to express her shock, he was yelling at Taylor.

"We're sitting right here!"

"Yes, we see you, Luke, and, as a member of the town, you are welcome to voice your opinion."

"Voice my…"

The bang of the gavel cut off Luke's words and had her jumping, and she couldn't tear her eyes off the front of the room as Taylor opened the floor for discussion, and people around her all threw their hands up in the air with something to say.

"Alright. I'll start. Luke's Diner is a staple in this town. Most of us eat there on a regular basis. The Independence Inn is also very important in our community. The co-mingling of owner and manager of these two establishments can only set the stage for disaster."

When she glanced briefly at Luke, she could see her disbelief mirrored in his eyes, and she tried to find words to say, but nothing came to her. And for once, he had something to say before she did.

"What the hell is he talking about?"

All she could do to answer was parrot what Taylor had said. "Well, he's not happy with our co-mingling." Taylor's voice brought her attention back to the front of the room.

"Think of the consequences. What will happen when the relationship goes sour, as, let's face it, most of Lorelai's relationships do?"

Sometimes, living in a small town was not all it was cracked up to be, and this was one of those moments. Nowhere else would the entire town know about her dismal dating history. And, as true as it might have been, it was still insulting. "Hey!"

However, again, Taylor continued as if neither she nor Luke had said anything. "We'll have to choose. Suddenly you'll either be a 'Luke' or a 'Lorelai,' or, if you're Kirk and you can't make a decision to save your life, you'll be neither."

"He's probably right."

"That's bad for the economy, bad for the town. I vote against this."

She turned to Luke with concern floating in her eyes. "Are they gonna make us break up?"

"I think you're overreacting, Taylor."

Relief flooded through her as Babette spoke up, but when the crowd started discussing Fay Wellington and Art Brush, and how badly their relationship turned out, she couldn't help but agree with the concerns floating through the room. The breakup sounded bad, and was nothing she wanted to be a part of, so she turned to Luke. "God, this sounds terrible. Maybe they have a point."

Luke looked at her like she was crazy. "No, they don't have a point."

"Well, what if something happens?"

"This is crazy." He turned away from her and back towards Taylor. "I don't believe that the breakup of Fay Wellington and Art Brush affected the economy of this town one bit."

"Well, lucky for you, I brought charts."

"You have charts concerning the romance of two people who used to live here 10 years ago?"

As Taylor brought out various charts, she was incredulous as to what was going on. Her mind was buzzing with what ifs and possible scenarios, and as map after map of color groupings was presented, she could feel her anxiety levels rising, and was about to turn to Luke to ask if he had a paper bag when he stood up suddenly, knocking his chair back several inches. "Ok, that's it. I've heard enough." Furious, he stormed up to the stage, and yanked the charts off the easels before turning to the crowd.

"This is my relationship." He pointed towards himself for emphasis. "Mine. Not yours, not yours, not yours…" He pointed towards Lorelai. "Yours."

She nodded emphatically when he pointed towards her, and looked around the room smiling at her fellow town members as Luke continued.

"But not yours. Mine and hers, but not," Luke looked directly at Taylor and narrowed his eyes, "yours!" He turned back to the room and continued on his rant. "There's not gonna be any more debating about whether or not it's a good idea if we're in a relationship, 'cause we're in a relationship."

"But in the event of a breakup…"

Luke looked back at Taylor with fury in his eyes. "There's not going to be a breakup."

"Well, isn't he the optimistic fellow?"

At Gypsy's words, Luke looked at her before once again sweeping his eyes over the room. "Fine. In case of a breakup, I'll move. I'll close up Luke's Diner, I'll go far, far away, and that way you won't have to choose, ok? Every section in town can be pink."

"Can we have your word on that?"

"You can have my word and a couple of middle fingers on that, Taylor."

Taylor turned towards the note taker of the meeting and mumbled something before turning back to the crowd. "All right people, it seems that the issue of Gilmore and Danes versus Stars Hollow has been resolved."

Taylor kept talking, but she didn't hear a word he said. Instead, she was beaming, and she looked around proudly to the people in the room. Since she and Luke had been dating, they had kept mostly private, but of course word of their relationship had spread around town. Even still, they hadn't really done anything too public together until the night before, with planning Rory's party, which seemed to be the catalyst for this impromptu town meeting topic. However, her very private, very monosyllabic boyfriend had not only announced to the whole town they were definitely in a relationship, but had told them that the relationship was solid, and would never be broken. Never in her life had she felt such strong feelings for one individual, and as she wormed her way through the crowd to get to her man, she couldn't wipe the grin off her face to save her life. Once again, Luke had managed to impress the hell out of her. "Wow!"

Luke looked down sheepishly at his shoes. "Yeah. Too much?"

She shook her head and then tilted it up so her lips could meet his. "Never. It was just the right amount."

...

"Why won't you let me help?"

Luke slid a sideways glance to Lorelai as she sat at the kitchen table before continuing to slice the vegetables he was going to be using for their dinner that night. "Because I don't trust you with a knife."

He had a point. At no time, did she ever assume to ever have any cooking skills whatsoever, so while she may have wanted to help him, it probably was safer for everyone involved if she stayed far, far away from anything that required more effort than opening a bag and tossing the contents on a cookie sheet. "Well, I do like watching you cook." In fact, she loved watching him cook. Over the summer, he had spent more and more evenings cooking in her kitchen, and as she watched him doing so, she always had a warm feeling in her stomach that put her at ease.

"Mmmm, what's that amazing smell?"

She looked over as Rory walked into the kitchen and straight over to the stove, where she stuck her head over the food cooking, and inhaled deeply.

"It's food!" When both Rory and Luke shot her an exasperated look, she looked down and pretended to study her nails. After a few moments, she looked back up, happy to see they were both engrossed in the food. "I'm going to go get us set up in the living room."

"I'll get a tape."

When Rory scampered back into the living room, Lorelai stood up and moved behind Luke, dropping her chin on his shoulder, content to just watch what he was working on for a while. When she felt his head tilt towards hers, she breathed out a happy sigh.

"Billy Jack!"

At Rory's shout, she lifted her chin off Luke's shoulder and pressed a kiss to his cheek before quickly gathering the stuff they would need to eat in the living room before running to meet her daughter. "Oo! Good choice!"

Once they had stuffed themselves on Luke's amazing food, she found herself sitting on the floor, resting her head on the couch, with Rory beside her, and Luke lying on the couch behind her. The three of them watched all of Billy Jack, and as the credits began to roll, she already started thinking about the next movie to put in. However, a glance down at her glass showed her it was empty, and she knew she needed another one in order to get through any more movie screenings. As she stood up, she looked down at Rory. "You want a refill?"

Rory nodded and handed over her glass. "Sure. Same thing."

"Luke?" She looked down at Luke on the couch and noticed he was sound asleep. As she thought back over the past hour, she realized he had stopped running his fingers through her hair at some point, and that must have been when they lost him.

"Uh oh."

She glanced at Rory. "We wore him out."

"We tend to do that."

"Well, we are ElectraWoman and DynaGirl."

"I think it's time to turn in."

"Yeah."

At her words, Luke seemed to stir, and sleepily opened his eyes. "I'm awake."

"You don't look it. Mom, you should get him to bed."

"Yeah, ok." She leaned down to grab Luke's hand, and pulled him into a sitting position, before pulling him up off the couch. "Come on, hon." As she pushed Luke up the stairs, she looked back down to Rory and gave her a little wave goodnight. However, as she was getting ready for bed, a feeling of worry began to gnaw at her. While Luke had stayed over several times already, it had never been so blatant that he was staying over. In the past, Rory had come home late and hadn't been witness to Luke heading to bed, or she was already in bed by the time Luke and Lorelai had called it a night. This was the first time they all went together, and she couldn't decide if the situation was ok or not. It was Luke, so it should be, but it wasn't a topic she had brought up specifically with Rory, and while she assumed Rory was ok with everything, suddenly she had to know for sure.

So after making sure Luke was asleep, she crept downstairs and into Rory's room, ignoring the fact that her daughter was already asleep, and reached over to wake her. "Hey." She was answered with Rory's thick with sleep voice.

"What? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing. Whatcha doing?"

"Taking back Poland."

"Oh, good luck with that."

Sensing her mother wasn't going away, Rory rolled over to look at her. "Mom."

"Luke is staying over."

"Really? I had no idea."

"Is it weird for you? We've never had a man in the house like this up there."

"Uh, Mom, in case you didn't realize, Luke stays over all the time."

"No! You're kidding."

Rory rolled her eyes before pulling her covers to her chin and rolling over. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now."

"No, wake up, wake up. We've not properly talked about this."

Rory sighed, and looked back at her mother. "About what?"

"About having Luke in the house. About the effect on you. Don't cover up anything. Let's get it all out in the open."

"I don't have anything to cover up. I like Luke."

"I know you do, and that's good. But you know, he could end up being here more than he is now."

Rory nodded. "I know."

"It won't just be the 'me and you secret special clubhouse no boys allowed' thing anymore."

"It will be different."

"You know, you can't walk around in the buff anymore."

At her mother's comment, Rory rolled her eyes. "I don't remember ever walking around in the buff."

"I know one time you did."

"Was I three?"

"Somewhere around there."

"Mom."

She sighed. "You're really ok with this?"

"Yes. I'm really ok with this."

"Ok, good. Goodnight, kid."

"Goodnight weirdo."

As she closed Rory's door carefully behind her, Lorelai felt like she had cleared another hurdle in her relationship with Luke. Sure, she and Luke had their disagreements here and there, but for the most part, they seemed to be settling in just fine to a real, lasting relationship. Hell, he had gone to bat for the relationship in front of the whole town. They were falling into such a great routine, she was already thinking about how much she was going to miss him the following week when she and Rory would be in Boston for their tour of Harvard. However, he was here now, and as she snuggled into his warm embrace, she couldn't help but think how much she liked having him in her bed.

...

The morning light slowly pulled her from sleep, and as she lay in the peaceful morning air, she thought back to the night before, and remembered falling asleep in Luke's arms. Smiling at the memory, she turned to hug him, but was met with cold sheets. She frowned until she looked at the clock and realized it was already well into the breakfast hour, and he had obviously snuck out to open the diner. With the rumble of her stomach, she jumped up and out of bed to get ready, yelling down the stairs to make sure Rory was up as well.

Half an hour later, they were walking in the door of the diner, the bustle of the early morning crowd an assault on her under-caffeinated senses. However, one of the first people who entered her vision was the one person she wanted to see most, and she smiled.

"Over there."

Luke's abruptness caught her off guard, and she leaned back a bit. "Good morning and hello to you too."

He sighed and leaned towards her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips, but careful to not drop the loaded plates he was carrying. "Sorry, good morning. Now, over there." He walked away to deliver the plates, and moved on to the table of people who were ready to order.

She narrowed her eyes at his retreating form, and sat down, flipping over the coffee mug that was sitting on the table as one of the part-time waiters came by to fill it up.

"Mom! It's blueberry pancake day!"

Rory's exclamation made her jump, and she twisted in her chair to look at the chalkboard over the kitchen door which always displayed the special of the day.

"Why didn't you get up earlier? Luke might be all out!"

"Um, hi, you could have gotten up without me, you know."

"Flag him down! Use your special powers with him. There are people who got here before us, and could get the last orders."

Feeding off of Rory's apprehension, Lorelai twisted in her seat to look for Luke. When she finally saw him across the diner, she lifted up her napkin and waved it in the air to get his attention. "Luke! We want the blueberry pancakes!"

Looking up from the couple who were currently in the process of ordering, Luke yelled back. "Pipe down. It's first come, first serve."

"Ah!" She couldn't believe it. It wasn't unusual for Luke to admonish her requests in the diner – she was known to expect snappier service than the less-than-regulars – but today was a matter of blueberry pancakes. She turned back to Rory with wide eyes and since her daughter was bouncing in her seat like a five year old, she once again turned around to get Luke's attention, only to end up looking right at his note pad. "Ah! Blueberry pancakes!"

"Did we make it?!"

Luke rolled his eyes at the girls, and shoved his pencil behind his ear. "I already set 'em aside." He turned to walk away, coffee pot in hand to give refills to a table near the middle of the diner.

"Love ya!" When the words left her mouth, it was like everyone in the diner had chosen that exact moment to take a pause in their conversations, leaving the diner quiet, and causing her words to ring out loudly. Luke looked at her like he had stopped breathing, and it seemed as though every eye in the building was darting between her and Luke to see what would happen next. Realizing what she said, she licked her lips and tried to swallow to moisten her suddenly very dry mouth. "Uh…I mean…I love those pancakes!"

Slowly, the patrons returned their attentions back to their meals, but she knew at least some of their hushed conversations were definitely now focused on her and Luke. Wanting to crawl into a hole, she turned back towards the table, and lowered her head into her hands, feeling her face flame with embarrassment. Up until this moment, neither she nor Luke had ever mentioned the L word to each other. Sure, the feeling definitely seemed to be there, and for her, it had been bubbling up closer to the surface each day. Still, she hadn't said anything, because it had just never seemed to be the right moment. And now, when she finally said it, it definitely wasn't the right moment.

"Mom?"

Not even wanting to lift her head, she just answered into her hands. "We'll talk later, kid." But, knowing she had to face the music sooner or later, she lifted her head and forced a smile on her face. "Hey, so, blueberry pancakes!"

...

Later that evening, she stood in front of the door of the diner for a few moments before hesitantly opening it and pushing through, ignoring the closed sign. All day she had gone over the scene from earlier when a simple phrase of affection she had said to people for years suddenly took on a whole new meaning because of who she said it to. Did she love Luke? Absolutely. She wouldn't have spent so much time with him over the years if she didn't. But, was she _in love_ with Luke? That question was a little trickier to answer. The feelings she had for him were different than any feelings she'd had for anyone else, but she still wasn't positive what those feelings exactly were. They had only been officially dating for a few months now, so was it possible to already be in love? She honestly wasn't sure, but regardless, she knew she needed to talk to him about what happened.

As she moved through the empty diner to the counter, she noticed the coffee pot was still about half full. Luke was obviously expecting her to show up at some point this evening, which would also explain the unlocked front door, but expectantly, she heard his voice ring out from the kitchen.

"We're closed!"

She smiled as she sat laid her purse down on the counter, and sat down. "It's just me."

Luke's head popped around the corner of the door to the kitchen, and a small smile was on his face. "Hey." He took a quick look around the diner, and satisfied it was empty, he moved from the kitchen across the diner and flipped the lock on the door, effectively preventing anyone else from stumbling in. With the task complete, he returned to the counter, and moved behind it, fluidly pulling a coffee mug out, filling it, and placing it in front of Lorelai.

With her favorite drink in front of her, and Luke staring at her expectantly, she felt her mouth go dry, and her heart speed up. She needed to say something, but as she licked her lips, she couldn't think of what exactly to say. To buy a few more moments, she wrapped her hands around the mug, letting the warmth seep through her skin. But as she was gathering the nerve to look up at Luke, his warm hand covered hers, making her eyes sweep up at him.

"Love ya too." He winked at her as he squeezed her hand, and then moved away, back into the kitchen to finish his cleanup for the day.

With his words, she suddenly felt better about everything. He made the whole situation so casual, but it could still be as deep as they wanted to make it. For now however, the deep understanding of friends was there, and she looked down into her coffee as she smiled. Leave it to Luke to know exactly what to say.

When he came out of the kitchen and nodded towards the curtain leading to his apartment, she wordlessly jumped off the stool, leaving her still full coffee mug, to follow him. As they climbed the stairs, she finally found some words to say. "I'm really going to miss you when I'm gone next week."

Luke paused on the stairs and turned to look down to her. "How about you show me how much you'll miss me."

His words instantly sent desire racing through her and she tossed him a saucy grin. "Yes sir."

They continued up the stairs and that night, she proceeded to show him exactly how much she would miss him, and how exactly she felt about him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it. I give all credit to the writers of this fantastic show for the dialogue I've borrowed.

 **Author's Notes:** I had to play a tiny bit with the timeline on this one, but I think it works.

* * *

 **Four and Five**

As the sky exploded in a blaze of fire that could only come from sunsets of the fading summer, she turned the Jeep onto the exit leading to Stars Hollow. The trip had been a good one, and other than forgetting to bring music, it created only wonderful memories. Staying at the Cheshire Cat was an experience – and left her knowing exactly what she wouldn't do with her own Inn – but was still a good experience. While she hated the concept of B&Bs, she had to admit, they were so much better to stay in than the sterile hotel rooms of chain hotels.

But the real highlight had been the tour of Harvard. Seeing Rory's face light up as she saw the campus she would soon be walking was unforgettable. The tour took them everywhere on campus, and while Rory had been overwhelmed by the enormity of the library, she seemed at home amongst the historical buildings. Lorelai had felt a tugging at her heart strings when they walked through one of the dorms, because Rory just seemed to fit in those tiny rooms, but the real moment had come during an impromptu stop. She desperately needed a stop at the ladies room, and when she returned, she found Rory actively participating in a lecture. There was her kid, not yet 17, already at home within the walls of the prestigious university. Just watching Rory had stirred a notion deep within her. She had missed out on so much because of raising Rory, and she was begging to feel like now was the time for her to do something with her life. It was time to really start thinking about what she wanted for her future.

As such, on the ride home, during the odd stretches of silence here and there, she began to formulate a plan in her head. It wasn't something that was going to happen immediately, but she was pretty sure she was ready to take that next step. However, she needed to discuss it with the one person whom she could go to about anything. She needed to hear his thoughts. And then, she could go from there.

After dropping off their bags and loot from the trip at the house, she and Rory decided that they should in fact eat something healthy to combat the mountains of junk food they'd eaten all week. The diner seemed the best option, since both girls knew Luke would be able to make them something that would satisfy their need for junk food, but still be healthy.

While they were walking, Lane surprised them both with her appearance and regaled them with tales of her trip to Korea as they continued their trek through the town square. Knowing Rory and Lane would want to continue talking for a while, she announced she was going to continue on, and be inside the diner if they needed her.

As she crossed the street towards the diner, her heart began to quicken as the excitement of seeing Luke that she had tried to push down all week came flying to the forefront. And when she pushed through the door and crossed the threshold, the familiar smells of hamburgers and coffee invaded her senses. She was home on so many levels, and it felt amazing. Even more amazing, the person she had missed all week was cleaning the table closest to the door when she walked in.

"Hey!"

A smile broke out on her face, and after closing the door behind her, she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and buried herself in his arms, before leaning back so she could press her lips to his. As her body melded to his, all she could think was, yup, she was home. When she finally pulled back slightly from the embrace, she managed to croak out, "Lewis and Clark have returned." She had to clear her throat to dampen down the flames of the desire that kiss had fanned.

Luke couldn't help but grin at her. "Oh yeah, which one are you?" He released his hold on her so he could continue on his way to the counter.

She shrugged her shoulders as she followed him. "I don't know. Which one had to paddle the canoe?" She climbed on a stool at the counter, but not before leaning across it to drop one more soft kiss on Luke's lips. When they broke apart, she remained close to his face as she looked up into his eyes and whispered a soft, "hi" to him, as she silently promised a much more grandiose hello when they could be alone.

With his eyes now a slightly darker shade of blue, Luke dropped back on his heels, and turned towards the coffee pot. "Coffee?"

"You have to ask?"

Wordlessly, he grabbed a clean mug, placed it in front of her and filled it, before turning to replace the coffee pot to its usual resting place. After a quick glance around the diner to make sure the late evening patrons were all taken care of, he put his elbows on the counter and leaned close to her. "I missed you."

Her face lit up in an impish grin, and she couldn't help the butterflies that were dancing in her stomach. Even the simplest of phrases uttered by him made her want to giggle like a school girl. "Yeah?"

He grabbed one of her hands, which he clasped in his, before entangling his fingers with hers. "Yeah." They started goofily at each other for a few moments until he broke the silence. "Can you stay over tonight?"

She glanced over her shoulder towards the window, where outside she could see Rory and Lane jumping up and down as they gleefully told each other stories about their respective trips. Knowing Rory, she was going to ask to stay at Lane's that night anyways so they could continue their conversation, so Lorelai felt confident when she turned back to Luke and nodded. "Yup."

With a quick nod of his head, he stepped back, not wanting to give in already to the desires that were clearing racing through both of them. "Good." After clearing his throat to force himself to think about anything other than dragging her upstairs, Luke grabbed a rag and started weaving it through his fingers as he leaned against the back counter. "So how was the trip?"

Thankful for his change of topic, she quickly thought back to all she and Rory had done, and tried to think of what to say first. "It was great! We drove around a little, we hit a B&B, and we took the tour of Harvard."

"Oh yeah. How was it?"

"It was amazing. Seeing Rory there, in a dorm room, in a classroom. She fit."

"Yeah, I can see her fitting there."

"She was right at home."

The tone of her statement set off warning bells in his mind, and he tilted his head a little closer to her, watching her closely as he asked the question he knew she had probably been unconsciously mulling over since the tour. "So, how you taking that?"

"Taking what?"

"Seeing her fit?"

A sigh pushed its way out before she could answer. "I loved it…and I hated it."

He nodded and chuckled at her answer. "That seems about right."

To give herself some time to collect her thoughts, she reached down to her coffee cup, and brought it to her lips, blowing on it slightly before taking a sip. The entire way home her thoughts had been so jumbled, and she knew only Luke could organize them for her. He always managed to do so. So, after putting down her cup, she dove in to trying to articulate what was going on in her mind. "Man, these past few days…just so many thoughts about my life then, my life now, what I missed. Thoughts about what I'll never have, and what I want to have."

Knowing she was working her way up to something, Luke only interjected with the obvious. "Yeah, that's a lot of thoughts."

"You're not kidding." Gathering her strength, knowing now what she wanted to say, she looked up at him. "So, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

"Have you ever set up a line of credit at a bank?"

Luke thought about it for a second before answering, but finally settled on, "No."

His answer was unexpected, and she narrowed her eyes in confusion. "But you don't pay for everything with cash on hand, do you?"

He found himself mirroring her expression as he pushed up from leaning against the back counter to put his hands on the counter in front of Lorelai. She was known for her seemingly random line of thinking and questions, but even this one seemed out of the ordinary for her. She was much too serious for this to be leading up to some sort of joke. "What's all this about?"

She blew out a breath before answering. "I think it's time to make a move."

"Meaning?"

"I'm diving in. Sookie and I are finally gonna open that inn."

"Yeah, I know."

"No, I mean, now. We've been talking about it, and dreaming about it, and it's time to finally get going on it." As she talked, she could feel her level of excitement begin to rise.

"Well, if the time is right."

"It is," she nodded. Then she asked the question whose answer she secretly feared, but kept her voice light and bubbly as she did. "Think I can hack being a business owner?"

"I think you can hack anything."

The seriousness in his eyes hit her right in the heart, and suddenly she knew how deeply this man believed in her. "Really?"

Trying to brush off the suddenly very serious atmosphere, Luke shrugged his shoulders and pushed forward with the conversation, making sure his voice carried a teasing lilt to it. "Yeah. I mean, you know all the creative stuff to the job, and you can manage, and uh, I've seen you try to add numbers, so I'd get an accountant first thing."

She dipped her eyes to the counter as a smile tugged on her lips from his teasing. "Ok, yes."

"So how far along are you?"

His question had her looking up again at him and she grinned at him. "This far."

"Well, listen, um, you know, I'm no financial genius, but you know, we can sit down sometime, and you can pick my brain on the few things I do know about."

"Really?"

"Sure. I've been around some."

The familiarity of their flirty bantering was all around her, and she was loving every minute of it. The past week had dragged on for so long without this back and forth she had with Luke. "Can I ask you stupid questions?"

"There's no such thing."

Oh. A challenge. She tipped her head to the side and pretended to think before looking right back at him. "How does ink come out of pens?"

Luke held up his hands in defeat, desperately trying to not laugh and let her know she got to him. "All right, there is such a thing. But, um, you're going to avoid that when we sit down, right?"

Laughing at her own joke, she nodded. "Right. Thank you." She twisted in her stool to look over her shoulder towards the window again to check on Rory before looking back at Luke. "Hey, can you whip up a couple of 'Lorelai doesn't know it's healthy' meals, and package one to go, and then keep one for here?"

"Coming up."

While Luke cooked her meal, Lorelai pulled her cellphone out of her purse, and headed out the front door, noting out of the corner of her eye that Rory and Lane were still in deep conversation. Flipping the phone open, she dialed a number she knew so well, smiling as her friend's voice greeted her. "Sookie, hey, it's me. We're back."

"Yay! You're back! How was it?"

"Good, it was good. But, first things first. I wanna start moving on the inn thing. I mean, take serious steps. We're ready, don't you think? We're ready."

"Oh honey, of course we're ready! We're more than ready."

"Oh good! Well, meet me early at work tomorrow."

"Are you staying at Luke's tonight? Because if you are, then that means you'll be in by 7, right?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! This is going to be great! I'm so excited!"

"I know. I'm excited too. Ok, you get back to Jackson. I'll see you in the morning, ok?"

"Bright and early!"

When she snapped her phone shut, Rory came running over to her. "Hey Mom, can I stay over at Lane's tonight?"

Smiling with the knowledge she knew her daughter way too well, she nodded. "Yeah, of course." When Rory started to run back to Lane, Lorelai reached out and grabbed her arm. "Hey, Luke has dinner for you. Run in and grab it."

...

With her meal finished, she picked at the remnants of the pie sitting in front of her before pushing it aside to focus solely on her coffee. Throughout the evening while she ate, Luke would come to talk to her between having to deal with other customers, and each time he walked by her, he made sure to trail his fingertips along her lower back. At one point, her shirt had ridden up, so his fingers started brushing against bare skin. Each time they did, the flames of her desire were fanned that much more, and by the time he put a slice of pie in front of her, she wasn't too sure how much longer she could last.

The other customers tonight however, seemed to have nowhere else to be, and after she drained her cup of coffee, she felt so jittery, she knew she needed to get out of there. Remembering she had just come from a long car ride, a shower suddenly seemed like the most amazing thing ever, and maybe the prospect of her showering naked upstairs would propel Luke to not-so-subtly tell the remaining customers to skedaddle. With a solid plan now formed in her mind, her lips tipped up in a sly smile, and when Luke passed by on his way to drop off a load of dirty dishes, she laid a hand on his arm to get him to stop. When he did, she leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I'm going upstairs, and will be in the shower for the next 30 minutes. I might need some help to wash my back if you knew someone who'd be willing." She pulled back to look up into his eyes, and watched as he blinked several times. Oh yeah. Those customers would be gone soon.

When he stepped back a couple of steps, she pushed herself up and off the stool, and trailed her fingertips down his chest to the top of his jeans before pushing past him and through the curtain. The cooler air in the stairwell was a welcome relief to her flushed skin, and as soon as she pushed through the door to Luke's apartment, she started peeling off the layers of her clothes.

As she stepped under the cascading water, she instantly felt a thousand times better, and immediately regretted not doing this as soon as she and Rory had returned home. The muscles that had tightened from the long drive slowly began to loosen, and she breathed in deeply as the steam rose around her. In the back of her mind, she wished she had thought far enough ahead to put some music on to listen to while she showered.

But when she felt a slight chill of new air caress her skin, a smile spread across her face. Oh yeah. Those customers were pushed out quickly. She turned as Luke joined her, and she dropped her arms on his shoulders, clasping them behind his neck, pulling him to her for a kiss. His lips were instantly insistent, and his tongue invaded her mouth. Taking a step towards him, she pressed him against the wall, feeling every inch of his body against hers.

When she had to take a breath, she pulled back to look in his eyes, and noticed his gaze was burning – heated just like the water cascading down her back. Shuddering at the intensity, she leaned into him, but suddenly found herself being turned in his arms so she was facing away from him. He reached up and swept her hair from her neck, and ran his tongue up her neck, kissing and sucking as he went.

A soft moan escaped her lips as he reached around her and cupped each breast, leaning into her so his lips were near her ear. "I've never kicked people out of the diner so fast in my life."

She wanted to giggle, but his talented fingers were kneading her breasts in the most delightful way, and her body was craving more. As she rolled her head back to give him better access to her neck, she pushed her breasts into his hands. With one hand she blindly reached behind her, wrapping her long fingers around the length of his erection, and welcomed his sharp intake of breath at her touch. As she slowly stroked him, he tugged on her nipples, and pleasure soared through her body, making her lean back against him and groan.

He turned her then, capturing her mouth once again with his, and she reached for his soap, rubbing it briskly in her hands to work up a foamy lather. With bubbles spilling out of her hands, she put the soap back, and reached forward to slowly rub the soap on his skin. He allowed her to skim her nimble fingers over his body, but then grabbed her wrists in his hands. Shaking his head, he leaned down to whisper, "I thought you were the one who needed help washing her back."

She shivered at his words, and allowed him to turn her around once more. Almost immediately, his hands were once again on her back, swirling in lazy circles, making their way further and further down until they slipped over the curve of her ass. Then they made their way back up, where they began to knead at her muscles which were still tight from the long drive. A low groan of satisfaction came from her lips, but she needed to see him, so she pulled herself away from his ministrations to turn around. He was looking back at her with hooded eyes and blazing desire.

Reaching out to her, he grasped her waist and pulled her roughly against him, kissing her deeply. His fingers swept down her body, landing on her sex, before starting to explore and tease her, while his mouth continued its conquest of hers. She was breathless, and had to pull away to gasp when his fingers entered her. It wasn't enough for either of them though, and he swept his hands under her backside, lifting her and pressing her against the wall.

Instinctually, she wrapped her legs around him, and clung to his neck. Her heart was beating wildly, and desire was racing through her body. She needed him. Now.

It was like he could read her thoughts, and slowly eased himself within her, filling her completely. She pushed down against him, and for a moment they paused, allowing the incredible feeling of being joined wash over them. When he shifted, she gasped at the sensation, and the sound fueled him to start moving. Slowly, he pulled out, and pushed back in again, finding a sweet rhythm as she tilted her head back in ecstasy. His teeth grazed over her jaw, and up to her ear, where he nipped at her earlobe.

Her gasps and grunts were mixing with his, and she clawed at his back as she felt her body started to tighten. All she could think was how amazing it was to be with this man, and when she realized how happy she was to be here, with him, her orgasm took her by surprise, causing her to cry out his name. As she tightened around him, he reached his own climax, pouring himself into her.

With his face buried in her neck, he sunk into her, holding her tight. "God, I missed you."

She blew out a breath, trying to slow her racing heart, before dropping her legs to reach the floor of the shower. Grateful for his bodyweight holding her to the wall, she stood on shaky legs. "Babe, you have no idea."

...

Regardless of how similar Rory was to her, there were times Lorelai swore she was sent home from the hospital with the wrong baby. Most of those times seemed to occur during the fall season – specifically, the first day of school. Growing up, she had been fond of school – it was a great time for parties after all – but the first day was always dreadful. Getting up early, having to find new classrooms, and dealing with new professors were all reasons she would have much rather pulled the covers over her head and ignored the day completely.

Rory however looked forward to the first day of school with the same enthusiasm she looked forward to Christmas Day. There was always an attempt to get to bed early so the morning would come faster, but excitement ran so high that sleep was tough to find. As a result, Rory was always up early, and ready to be dropped off at school well before the sun even broke over the horizon, and Lorelai would absently wonder if sending her to boarding school was really all that bad of an idea.

This morning was no different, and as such, she found herself at the diner much earlier than usual, despite almost falling asleep standing in the shower. The only bonus of being there so early, was the ability to be in the presence of Luke that much longer. However, the stare down Rory kept giving her was starting to get on her nerves, so she was relieved when Lane came in asking Rory to buy some music for her. After listening to the list for a while, she knew her time at breakfast was dwindling, and wanted some one-on-one time with Luke before she left, so made an announcement she was getting donuts for the road.

However, as she made her way to the counter, she quickly realized her plans would not go as intended as a small group of Boy Scouts hovered around the counter trying to order. Patience was never particularly her strong suit, especially on days when she was tired, and as the boys seemingly could not decide what they wanted, she lost the small iota of patience she was holding on to, and tried to get Luke's attention. "Hey, donuts please."

"We were here first!"

She couldn't believe the attitude coming from the small child standing in front of her and decided she didn't have time for this, so looked down at him and answered back snippily. "On the planet?"

"Huh?"

"You lose." Happy with the quickly won argument, she clapped her hands in triumph as she turned back to Luke and shouted, "Chocolate, cinnamon, and sprinkles!" However, the phone started to ring, interrupting her order, and Luke moved to get it. She couldn't help but groan along with the kids. "This could take forever."

"All of you pipe down."

Ignoring Luke, she turned to one of the boys. "Grumps, huh?"After quickly deducing Luke was going to be awhile on the phone, and knowing time was running low, she shrugged her shoulders and moved behind the counter to get her own donuts. Might as well take advantage of the girlfriend status when she could. She grabbed a to-go bag from under the counter, and lifted the lid off the donut display, quickly bagging the donuts she wanted. As Taylor spoke with one of the boys about rule breaking, she couldn't help but give him a little jab. "Planning on burning a little Huck Finn after lunch, Taylor?" Satisfied when Taylor couldn't volley back with her, she replaced the lid of the donut display, and rolled up the bag she was holding. As she moved to return to her table, Luke started yelling into the phone, and she stopped to listen. Something serious was going on and was definitely bothering him, because she could practically see the steam rising from his head, so when he hung up the phone, she asked, "Is everything ok?"

Luke turned to the group. "Do you have a sister?"

What? He knew she didn't have a sister, so it was obvious he was seeing only red at the moment. "Um, no."

"I do."

She turned to the little boy who spoke up his answer, and watched the brief interaction Luke had with the boy before Luke stomped away into the kitchen.

"Mom!"

Rory's call had her looking towards her daughter, who was standing up by their table pointing emphatically at her watch, but then she looked back towards the kitchen. She was completely torn as to what to do. Rory needed to get to school, but whatever the phone call was, was really bugging Luke, and she needed to be there for him. Holding up a finger to Rory, who huffed out a groan, she moved towards the kitchen, stopping short when she almost crashed into Luke who was quickly walking out. "Oh!"

"Lorelai, you can't be back here."

"Yeah…but…are you ok?"

Luke breathed in deeply and hung his head, squeezing his eyes closed as he rubbed his hands over his hat – a clear sign he was stressed out. "I can't talk about this now."

She was desperate to know what was going on, but knew Luke well enough to know that sometimes he just needed time to process whatever was on his mind. And besides, she needed to get Rory to school, so there wasn't time to try to pry it out of him. Instead she dipped down a bit so she could look up at Luke, who was still hanging his head, and lowered her voice so that only he could hear. "But later, right?"

He opened his eyes to see hers shining back at him and a small smile flashed quickly across his lips before disappearing just as quickly. "Yeah. Go. Get Rory to school."

"Mom, we are officially late now!"

She glanced at her daughter and sighed before turning back to Luke. "Later." She leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, slightly worried when she didn't feel him press back in to her. Yes, something was definitely bothering him, and it was already starting to eat at her as well. However, she couldn't dwell on it now, and instead turned and ran after her daughter who was already out the door and down the street.

...

All morning, she couldn't stop wondering what it was that was bothering Luke, and finally she couldn't take it anymore, so just after lunch, she made an excuse as to why she needed to leave, and drove into town. Once parked, she started moving towards the diner, and the flash of a blue ball cap had her focusing. Just as it registered that Luke was carrying several grocery bags, she watched as one fell, and could hear the curses coming from his mouth from where she stood. She quickly moved in his direction, but stopped short of actually helping him. The non-kiss from the morning was still burning in her mind. "Hey."

He looked up at her as he started picking up the groceries he dropped, and acknowledged her greeting. "Hello."

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, just redecorating the sidewalk."

Something was definitely up. He was evading her questions already, and relying on their usual banter. "Oh, it looks nice."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't think too much blue?"

She could hear the irritation in his voice, and she couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong. Was he upset about her taking her own donuts that morning? She shook her head at his question though, "No, just enough."

"Yeah, well, thanks for the input. You can go now."

Ignoring him completely, she watched for a few moments as he continued to stack the items he had dropped. "Need some help?"

"Nope."

She watched as a box fell. "Need some help?"

As another item fell from his arms, he again denied any need. "Nope."

Thoroughly enjoying the situation now, she almost felt bad for him and his stubbornness as yet another item fell. "Need some help?"

Finally balancing everything in his arms, he stood up. "Nope." Only to have another item fall. He looked forlornly at it.

Grinning completely now because she knew she had him, she offered once more. "Need some help?" When he let out a loud sigh and moved towards the diner door, she giggled and picked up the offending item, trailing him into the diner, and up the stairs to his apartment. In all honesty, the anticipation of what was going on was killing her, especially when she looked at the box of cereal clutched in her hands. Since it was an item that was usually found in her kitchen, but never his, she briefly wondered if he was finally relenting on the 'no sugary foods' rule he kept in his kitchen for her. "Frosted Flakes? Since when do you buy Frosted Flakes?" As soon as the question left her mouth, the bottom of the box Luke was carrying gave way, and food spilled all over the floor. And because she was not a patient person, she wanted to know immediately what was going on. Waiting for him to tell her was no longer an option. "Ok, now what is going on?"

"Nothing."

She wasn't buying it. "Nothing? You just all of a sudden woke up this morning and decided you were finally gonna buy every food item I've asked you to keep up here for me?"

"It's not for you."

For some reason, her heart dropped to her stomach. Something was off. Something was wrong. "Well, who's it for?"

Luke unlocked the door and stepped over the pile of food into the apartment so he could deposit the remains of the box he was still carrying. "My nephew."

His words brought instant relief to her. Oh, his nephew. She remembered Luke talking about his sister and her son a few times. While it seemed as though they had left Stars Hollow far behind, Luke's nephew must have requested to come visit. Jogging after him into the apartment, she placed the bag she had picked up, and put in on the kitchen table. "Oh, your nephew's coming to visit."

"No, he's coming to stay."

That threw her. "Your sister's moving here?" She followed Luke back out to the hallway and bent down to help him pick up the food.

"Nope."

Now she was just completely confused. "Well, I'm sorry, I don't get it."

"There's nothing to get. It's just Liz. She's too busy, she can't handle him, she's sending him here."

"Where's his dad?"

"Oh well, the great prize that my sister picked up at a Der Wienerschnitzel left her about two years ago, whereabouts unknown."

Instantly feeling a kinship with Luke's sister, Lorelai lowered her eyes to the floor. She knew all too well the difficulties of having her kid's father leave them high and dry. "Aww, jeez."

"Yup."

"So, she's just sending him here, just like that?"

"Oh, no. I'm sure she put at least five or six minutes of thought into it."

Her head started to reel as to the possible ramifications of Luke's nephew coming to live in Stars Hollow, but she forced herself to push those thoughts aside for the moment as she continued to collect the dropped food. There was no reason to get upset about what she didn't know. "But, why?"

"Well, 'cause apparently he's been getting into some trouble and Liz is afraid he's heading for something bad, and rather than handle it herself, she's just giving up. She's sending him here so I can straighten him out."

She couldn't help but snort at that. "You?"

"Yes."

"You can straighten him out?"

"Yes."

"You, Luke Danes, the great communicator, you're going to straighten the kid out?" Her words ended with a slight chuckle.

"All he needs is a change of pace, a new crowd, and to get away from the nutjob that unfortunately, is my sister."

As Luke spoke, those thoughts she had moments before pushed aside, pushed right back to the forefront, and she could feel her pulse quicken, and not in the way it usually did in Luke's presence. This situation had the potential to greatly affect their relationship if it was something that was going to be more permanent than temporary. "Well, how long is he staying?"

"I don't know. Indefinitely."

Yup. She definitely felt her heart drop that time. Her mouth went dry as well. "And how old is he?"

"Seventeen."

"Oh, wow." A teenager heading into trouble was not someone who could be left on their own. She should know. She had been one of them. No, a teenager heading into trouble needed constant attention, which meant suddenly, there was someone else in her relationship with Luke. "That is very generous of you." The tension in her voice was palpable, but Luke seemed to either miss it, or chose to ignore it.

"Well, it's family. What else can you do?"

He was right, and she knew it. And they would make it work. It was just one more aspect of their relationship that would have to be worked out. Either way, in that moment, she was so proud of being with a man like Luke, and a small smile crossed her lips before she dove into her next question. "Right. So, what kind of trouble has he gotten into?"

"Ah, just kid stuff, you know. Staying out late, getting rowdy. I don't know exactly."

Leave it to Luke to have no idea what he was getting himself into. "Well, you might want to find out. Ask a couple of subtle questions, you know, has he seen The Shawshank Redemption? Did the setting seem homey to him? Stuff like that."

Luke brushed off her reference as he busied himself with collecting his old air mattress and an air pump, and moved towards his bed, where he had planned to put the mattress as well. "Look, his problem is obvious. It's his mother. You never could count on Liz for anything. Our mom died when we were kids, right? It was just my dad, me, and Liz. And my dad worked all the time and I worked in the store with my dad, and Liz was off doing God knows what."

Luke had told her once before about losing his mother at a young age, but even then, she knew not to push him on the subject. She could tell it was painful to discuss, and now as he was relaying a little more into what went on in his childhood, her heart broke for both him and Liz. "Well, I bet losing her mom so early was kind of hard on her."

"It was hard on all of us, but we did our part. And then the minute she graduates high school, she is outta here. Didn't matter that my dad was sick. Didn't matter that the store was failing. She just took off. Married the hot dog king, had a kid, he left, now here we are."

It was rare when Luke put together so many words, and this particular story had her wondering just exactly what Luke was like when he was younger. Every once in a while, she would think about her past and wonder what Luke was doing when she was just a few minutes down the road putting mints on pillows. Judging by what he just said, when she was just arriving in town with a baby strapped to her hip, he was also dealing with a major life change as he struggled to keep his father's store afloat while also taking care of his ailing father. Sometimes it amazed her how much her life and Luke's life seemed to parallel each other. "Yeah, wow, that's…" She refocused on the here and now and realized Luke was in the process of using an old bicycle air pump. "I'm sorry, what are you doing?"

"I'm blowing this up."

"What is it?"

"It's a bed."

"A bed?"

"For Jess."

"Jess?"

"Jess, my nephew."

"Luke, um, that's not a bed, that's a raft, which is find if you're gonna build a moat around the diner, but…"

He cut her off before she could continue. "It's fine."

"Luke, the kid needs a bed. If you want to get him something inflatable, make it a blonde."

"I'm getting him a bed. This is just temporary."

She really hoped it was. On so many levels. "Hey, how does Jess feel about this?"

"I don't know."

Wait. What? "You haven't talked to him about it?"

"No."

"Don't you think you should?"

"Why? He doesn't have a choice. His mom's a flake. He's coming here. End of story."

Oh, this was so, so not good. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"I mean, taking on a full-time kid, that's a lot of work."

"I know."

"And a seventeen year old that's been getting into trouble and now is being shipped off without his consent… that could be even harder."

"Look, all he needs is to be around someone who's not a selfish basketcase, who will give him a little space, who will treat him like a man."

She licked her lips. Luke was so far out of his element with this, she was worried he was going to lose himself. While they had been talking, she had wanted to bring up what this meant for them, but now, she was more worried about him. "Maybe you should think about this."

"There's nothing to think about. He's family. You take care of family. Period."

"Yes, I respect that, but what if he turns out to be Fredo?"

"Are you seriously telling me not to do this?"

"No, I'm not telling you not to do this."

"Then, what are you saying?"

What was she saying? It did kind of sound like she was telling him not to do this, but she couldn't do that. No, this was family, and she needed to support him. "I'm just saying that if you need any help, I'm here." Her words ended up coming out with a slight stumble, but she finished strong, and that seemed to pacify Luke.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Look, I got a lot of things to do before he gets here, so…"

She held up her hands and stood up from the chair she had perched on. "Ok, I'm leaving." She moved towards him for the first time since earlier that morning, and pressed a kiss to his lips, happy when she felt his lips respond, and one of his hands rest on her hip. After a few moments, she pulled back and licked her lips, tasting him on them. As she stepped back to look at him, she quirked an eyebrow, letting him know she was going to tease him. "Oh, you do have an extra set of sheets, right?"

"Yes, I do."

The annoyance was prevalent in his voice, so she understood now was not the time to continue to tease him. "Sorry. Just checking. Bye." She tossed a wave over her shoulder, and skipped down the stairs and through the diner. As she walked out the front door, she started chewing on the inside of her cheek, because a small bubble of worry was starting to work its way through her system. However, when she heard the familiar rumble of Luke's truck drive by, she couldn't help but smile. She knew he didn't have any extra sheets. She was the one who washed his one and only pair all the time.

...

The wait was killing her. She looked through the day's check-in list for the hundredth time, and still didn't see who had yet to check in for the day. Her mind was solidly on Luke and the fact that his nephew – Jess – was arriving today, and as such, work was the last thing from her mind. Michel had threatened her multiple times with calling Mia to complain about her lack of work ethic, but she knew it was an empty threat since Mia had never been able to understand a single word Michel said since the day he was hired.

Huffing out a breath, she closed the check-in book, and turned around to look through the mail behind her. A quick glance at the clock told her she still needed to suffer through at least another 20 minutes before she could at least pretend she had worked almost a full day. Once the mail was sorted, she still had 18 minutes left, so figured a detour through the kitchen to talk to Sookie would take up the time. However, when she entered, Sookie was in the middle of an argument with Jackson about his latest delivery of vegetables. Shrugging her shoulders, she poured herself a cup of coffee and watched the two over the rim of her mug.

Once her cup was drained, she rinsed it out in the sink and tossed a wave to the kitchen staff on her way out back to the front desk. Thankfully, the only patrons in the lobby were happily browsing through the books available, and weren't looking for any help. As such, she reached under the front desk for her coat and purse, and made a beeline for the front door before anyone could stop her.

After a quick stop at home to change, she made her way to the diner and practically burst through the door. She hoped her enthusiasm wasn't as obvious as it felt, but when she greeted Luke, he jumped and knocked over a mug, spilling coffee all over a table, and she thought maybe her zeal wasn't as tempered as she hoped. Or, maybe Luke was just on edge. When they had talked the night before on the phone about Jess' arrival, she definitely could pick up some nerves in his voice. So much so, she didn't even think it was appropriate to tease him about it. However, seeing him in person was a different matter, so when he asked if she wanted coffee, she couldn't help but throw a zinger his way. "It's ok. I'll just lick it off the table." When he didn't even flinch at her teasing, she realized how wound up he was, and once again her excitement about meeting one of Luke's family members pushed forward. She trailed closely behind him as he made his way to the kitchen pass with an armload of dirty plates. "So?"

"So what?"

"Is he here?"

"He's here."

"Yeah? How is he?" Her normal stool was taken, so she sat down near the middle of the counter, and put her bag on the stool next to her.

"He's fine."

Since Luke clearly wasn't in the mood to talk, her natural inclination to tease him returned, and she tilted her head towards him. "Did he see the bed?"

"He saw the bed." Hoping to distract to end the questioning, Luke tossed the rag he was holding on the counter, and reached for the coffee pot to fill her a cup.

She was not to be deterred, however. "Well, where is he? I wanna meet him."

"Oh, he's out."

That threw her a little. The kid had just arrived in town. How could he be out already? "Out where?"

"I don't know."

She snorted. "You don't?"

"No, he just went out."

Wait. "You didn't ask him where he was going?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because he's not two."

Oh boy. Already she had an inkling that she was going to have to subtly help Luke out much more than she had originally anticipated. "Yeah, but Luke, he's new in town. He doesn't know his way around yet."

Luke looked at her like she was crazy. "Way around what? This is Stars Hollow. You take three left turns and you're back in the center of town."

"Luke, when a kid goes out, you have to at least ask where he's going."

"Why?"

"Because you're responsible for him now. If he goes and knocks over a liquor store, it's gonna be your fault.

"If I had asked him where he was going and he actually intended to knock off a liquor store, do you really think he would've told me that?"

She rolled her eyes. He had a point. She hated it when he successfully volleyed one of her exaggerations back at her. So instead, she shrugged her shoulders. "If he's dumb."

Wanting nothing more than to move on, Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "He's fine. New topic."

Just then the bells above the door jingled, and she turned around to see a sullen looking teenager walk in the door, and towards the back curtain. She could practically feel the disdain oozing out of the kid, and didn't even have to hear Luke address the teen to know it was Jess. However, her excitement for meeting anyone new bubbled to the surface. "Hey. Hi, I'm Lorelai. I just wanted to meet you before Luke had a chance to fill your head with all kinds of little lies about me."

"Hi."

Filing away the fact that Jess was clearly part of Luke's family based on his single word response, she continued on, hoping some of her good mood was catchable and she could get through to Jess. "You know, you should meet my daughter. She's about your age. She can show you where all the good wilding goes on." When he didn't respond, she felt her enthusiasm waning. "Ok, well, it's nice to meet you. I hope you like it here." Once again, he didn't respond, and she began to feel awkward. "So, class dismissed." A nervous laugh bubbled out of her mouth, and she felt like all the air had been pulled out of her as she slumped on her stool. The only consolation to the awkward encounter was that Jess ignored Luke as well, and slipped upstairs. She watched the empty space where Jess had just been, trying to get a handle on all the thoughts going through her head about the kid, before she turned to Luke. "So, that's Jess?"

"Yup."

"Very chatty."

Luke sighed, and tried to brush off Lorelai's unspoken judgement of Jess. "He's adjusting. He just got here. He probably just went out and realized there are twelve stores in this town devoted entirely to peddling porcelain unicorns. I've lived in this town my entire life, I still can't believe it."

Whenever Luke put together that many words in a sentence, she knew he meant business, and clearly in this situation he was defending his family from her slight teasing. And since it was so rare he got truly irritated at her, she quickly acquiesced. "I'm sure that's it."

"He'll be fine in a few days."

A plan quickly formed in her mind, and she knew she had the instant solution to the Jess problem. "Hey, listen, I have a fabulous idea. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Instantly suspicious, Luke narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Undeterred, she continued on. "Why don't you and Jess come over for dinner?"

"Dinner?"

She nodded, already picturing the scene in her head. "Sookie will cook, Rory will be there. It'll be a little 'Hey, welcome to Stars Hollow and see, everyone here's not straight out of a Fellini film' kind of an evening."

After taking a brief moment to consider it, Luke nodded. "Ok. That would be nice. Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied, a grin on her face.

"You won't bring up the bed?"

With his return to her initial teasing, she started beaming. He might have been distracted, but he had still been totally paying attention to everything she was saying. "Oh no, I'll definitely bring up the bed." She watched him as he walked away, overall pleased with the interactions. Already making up a list in her mind of what needed to be done for the following day, she decided that calling Sookie as soon as she got home would have to be the first order of business so she would have time to prepare some food. However, as she mentally started listing other things that needed to be done, she was interrupted by Rory coming in and slumping down on the stool next to her. As Rory told her about the first day of school, and the already difficult interactions with Paris, she couldn't help but have the same thought she had every year – she was so happy she didn't have to go to school every day.

After commiserating for a bit longer, they twisted off their stools and headed out, towards home for the day. While they walked, she brought up her plans for dinner the following day. As per usual, Rory seemed agreeable to the whole thing, and as Rory returned the topic of conversation back to school, Lorelai let her mind drift to what else she needed to do for dinner.

...

With everything set up at the house, and the air smelling heavenly, she felt her heart skip a beat when she heard a knock at the front door. They were at the point in their relationship that Luke usually just walked right in, but since Jess was with him, he must have decided to go for politeness instead. "Coming!" As she skipped towards the front of the house, she could hear Sookie worry yet again about what Jess would or wouldn't eat, but she couldn't care less at the moment. For now, she was looking forward to seeing Luke. When she reached the door and opened it, sure enough, there were Luke and Jess waiting, and Luke held up his hand in a small wave of greeting. "Hey, perfect timing. Sookie's about to break her own record for the most food served outside the Roman Empire."

Luke snorted. "Sounds great."

"Sure does."

Jess's voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she chose to ignore it, and instead stepped aside and gestured them in. "So, come on in." As Jess wandered into the living room, Luke stopped and leaned in close to Lorelai, resting his hand on her ass and pulled her body closer to his. He dropped a soft kiss on her lips.

"Sorry we're a little late. We had a little misunderstanding about what time we were actually supposed to leave to come here."

She waved him off, just happy to feel his arms wrapped around her body. "It's ok. How's it going?"

"Oh, well, not bad. Oh, the bed popped."

She wanted to laugh, but since the bed was a bit of an inside joke with them now, she decided to just go with the bit. "Yikes. Was anyone in it?"

"Me."

That made her chuckle. "You?"

"Yeah, I let him take the real one."

"Well, that was very nice of you." She tilted her head up inviting another kiss, but knowing the house was full of guests, she pulled away after a brief moment and moved into the living room, where she knew Jess had gone, feeling Luke close behind her. "Hey Jess. Wanna come on in the kitchen?" She led the way into the kitchen and introduced everyone to each other, before calling on Rory, who was still holed up in her room studying. After finally diverting everyone to the living room where she had the big table set up, she filled up a plate for Luke, and made sure to add an extra-large scoop of mashed potatoes to it when he made a comment that the large plate could only be for her. She did not however, miss the wink he tossed her way, and she smirked when she handed him the plate. They were definitely going to have to have a serious discussion soon about how they would be able to get some alone time now that their space above the diner was being shared by a teenager.

When Sookie remembered there was garlic bread, Lorelai volunteered to go get it. However, as she was pulling the bread out of the oven, she recalled Rory saying Jess was in the kitchen getting a soda, but the room was empty save for herself. Noticing the back door was slightly ajar, she moved through it, instantly seeing Jess near the back railing. As she took another step towards him, she saw a lid fly off a bottle of beer, and swooped in to grab it from him. She probably should have called him on it, but she couldn't, because 16 years ago, she was him, so she understood where he was coming from. "Oh, for me, hey, thanks." She took a sip from the bottle, feeling the cool liquid slide down her throat. "Refreshing." When he just looked at her, she noted there was no regret about being caught in his eyes, so she just pushed forward. "So what, you're not hungry?"

"Not really."

"Well, Sookie made you some grilled cheese if you don't like pot roast."

"Oh, well, if I'd known that…"

It was like the kid could only speak in sarcasm, but again, she had to remind herself that she was once just like him, so she tried again. "Let me guess. You don't want to be here?"

"Doesn't matter."

"I mean, here in Stars Hollow."

"Well, jeez, Ms. Gilmore. What would anyone not want to be here in Stars Hollow? That just sounds plum crazy."

Her patience for Jess was quickly evaporating. As much as she saw of herself in him, he was just plain rude. She might have been one of the most sarcastic kids around in her day, but when it came to dealing with adults other than her parents, she still maintained a sense of politeness. Jess however, seemed to have none of those rules of society drilled into him. "Ugh, Jess, let me give you a little advice. The whole 'my parents don't get me' thing. I've been there."

"You have, huh?"

"Yes, I have. I've also done the 'chip on my shoulder' bit. Oh, and the surly, sarcastic, 'the world can bite my ass' bit, and let me tell you, I mastered them all, in heels yet. And everything you're feeling might be totally justified, maybe you are getting screwed. But Luke is a great guy. He's very special and he really wants to take care of you and make things right for you. You're incredibly lucky to have him. If you give this situation half a chance, you might be surprised at how good it can be, how much you like living here, and how comfortable it feels to have someone like Luke you can really depend on." When she finished speaking, she had to take a quick, deep breath to replenish her oxygen supply.

"What, are you sleeping with him or something?"

Jess' question, which sounded like an accusation, completely took her off guard. "Excuse me?"

"I don't know. The whole, starry eyed 'you're so much better off, just give it a chance' speech. You're either really naïve, or you're getting some."

It was very rare that she felt this level of anger bubbling up inside of her. Usually when she felt like this, it was because of something her parents did, but this time, it was because of a teenager. Here was some punk kid, who she was just trying to help settle in, essentially taunting her, and it made her blood boil. While it was true she was sleeping with Luke, she was fairly sure that wasn't something Jess knew about as of yet – she and Luke decided that instantly bringing up their relationship wasn't high on the list of things for Jess to know when he moved in – but the fact that he felt that was the only reason she was protecting Luke was infuriating. Even if she and Luke weren't dating, she knew deep within her soul she would have done nothing different in regards to this night.

As such, if she wasn't the adult in this situation, she would have let loose a string of curse words to Jess. But unfortunately, she was, and she worked hard to keep her temper from exploding. "Ugh. There have been very few moments in my life where I have actually wished I had one of those enormous cream pies you can just smash in someone's face, but this is definitely one of them."

"Well, now, that's not very neighborly."

The gall of this kid was incredible. "Hey, you know what, this is my house, and I choose how I get talked to in it."

"You know, you don't know anything about me, or my life, or my mom, or Luke, so why don't you Doctor Laura someone else."

The last ounce of her patience was snapped, and she knew she needed to exit the scene before she lost her adult status. Grabbing the bottle of beer, she looked at Jess one more time. "I'm going inside. Stay out of my fridge." She stormed back in the house, leaving Jess stewing on the porch, and could feel herself throwing the garlic bread in a basket with a little too much force, but her blood was still boiling. If life was a cartoon, steam would be billowing out of her head.

Because Lorelai had been gone so long, Luke wandered into the kitchen looking for her, and realized that she wasn't in there talking to Jess as he assumed. Rather, she was by herself, which meant Jess was missing. "Where's Jess?"

Normally Luke's presence could instantly calm her down, but this time was different. When she answered, she could hear the snotty tone to her voice, but she just couldn't help it. "Outside working on his "Breakfast Club" audition. He's getting good."

"What?"

She sighed, and turned her attention from the garlic bread to Luke. "Luke, I'm sorry. That kid is way more screwed up than you think he is."

"What are you talking about?"

The instant defensiveness towards his family had already creeped into his voice, but she ignored it, because she was too riled up. "I catch him outside with a beer, I don't even bust him on it, I just…I try talking to him…"

"What do you mean, talk to him? What did you say?"

She could hear anger lacing through Luke's tone, but she wasn't sure why, so she answered his question truthfully. "I said he's got a good thing going here with you and he shouldn't blow it, and then, well then he just got charming."

"What are you doing talking to him about stuff like that?"

Both the tone of his voice, and the tension in Luke's face had her mentally stepping back a bit, instantly questioning what she had said, but instantly incredulous that he seemed angry at her. "I'm trying to help you."

"I don't need your help."

Anger was now fully evident in his voice, and she was stunned by it. "Uh, yeah you do."

"Oh, here we go again with this, 'I'm not prepared for this' crap."

His anger had now transferred to her, and she knew instantly this was going to turn into a huge argument between the two. Feeling her blood start to boil, she slammed down the basket on the stove, and put her hands on her hips in a defiant stance. "This is not crap. This is the truth. Luke, you should've heard him talking."

"I don't need to hear him talking. He's my nephew and I know what I'm doing. And I'm getting a little tired of your condescending…"

She cut him off before he could continue, hearing the anger rising in her own voice. "I am not being condescending."

"Oh, you have a kid, so you know everything, right?"

"I have a kid, so yeah, I know a little more than you do."

"You know, you ever think maybe you just got lucky with Rory? I mean, you did get pregnant at sixteen. That doesn't show the greatest decision making skills, now does it?"

She sucked in a breath, and the only thing that kept a piece of her heart from breaking was the anger still simmering in front of her eyes. And because it was Luke, and not any other person on the planet, she didn't respond with that string of curses she had been thinking about with Jess. No, instead, she muttered just under her breath, "wow, two pies."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Luke's voice was so patronizing, she answered back snootily, "Nothing. I'm talking about nothing. And you won't have to hear my opinion on anything ever again, ok?" Needing an escape, she snatched the basket of bread from the stove, holding it close to her stomach, effectively putting an extra layer of defense between her and Luke.

"Oh, don't tease."

The level of mocking in Luke's voice had tears springing to her eyes, and she pushed past him so he wouldn't see. "Go find Jess." The kitchen door slammed behind her, and she stopped on the way to the living room to put a hand over her face, trying to stem the tears. She was dreading having to go back to her dinner party, because she knew without a doubt, her entire argument with Luke could be heard from the living room.

Thankfully, her guests knew her well, and once she took a few moments to herself to make sure she wasn't actively crying, they welcomed her to the table as if nothing happened – only teasing her about how much food she was planning on eating that night. Suddenly grateful they were still there, she forced herself to settle in to the conversation and good food, only allowing herself to breakdown once everyone had left and Rory was in bed. Luke had been so cruel, and she couldn't understand why. All she had done was talk to his nephew, and he took that as her attacking his ability to handle his own family.

Throughout her life, she had argued with boyfriends. God, the fights she had with Christopher were legendary, but none of them ever affected her like this one did with Luke. She kept replaying the argument over and over in her mind until she found it difficult to breathe. The two of them had always argued, but those arguments always had a subtext of teasing, and were never serious. This one was different however. There was no subtext of teasing and the words said were meant to hurt – and they did.

But she just couldn't see what she had done wrong. She knew Luke was fiercely loyal to his family – a trait she greatly admired – but since he was in a relationship with her, she couldn't understand why he couldn't see she was trying to help him. As she walked around her room getting ready for bed, she went over the argument again, and could feel the anger starting to rise in her again. She hadn't done anything wrong. Nothing. So there was nothing Luke should be angry at her about. This was 100% on him, and he needed to realize that and apologize to her. She was not going to apologize for helping.

With anger buoying her for the moment, she laid awake for a long time, waiting for the phone to ring. Surely Luke would come to the same conclusion she had, and would call to apologize. But as the night grew older, and morning started to make its appearance, she fell asleep with her heart starting to break once again.

He clearly wasn't going to call.

...

The next morning, she got ready for work, and walked with Rory towards the diner. Luke hadn't called the night before, nor had he that morning. Initially, her intention was to go into the diner and give Luke a piece of her mind, but as she and Rory closed in on the building, she realized she couldn't do that. She had to remind herself she hadn't done anything wrong, and as much as she wanted to go in there and scream and yell to get that point across, she knew that tactic would never work. And there was no way she could just move on as if nothing had happened, because something had. Something bad had happened between the two of them. So instead, she stood on the sidewalk, watching Luke through the window.

"You're being completely childish."

She looked down at Rory, and frowned. "Am not."

"So what, we're never gonna go into Luke's again? We're just gonna starve?"

She shook her head. Over the months she and Luke had been dating, the two of them had definitely had their tiffs – they both had strong personalities after all – which usually led to a few hours of silence between them. However, they had always worked through them. "Rory, this was a bad one, ok? This was not Nick and Nora. This was Sid and Nancy, and I'm not going in there."

"But the coffee is in there. And it's Danish Day. Are you seriously telling me that you're gonna let a stupid fight get in the way of Danish Day?"

She shook her head and grinned because she already had a plan. "No, I'm not."

Feeling like she had won the conversation, Rory smiled too, ready to walk into the diner. "Good."

"So go in there and order two coffees and two Danishes to go."

"You're kidding, right?"

She looked again through the window of the diner, making sure to stay out of Luke's line of sight. "And don't forget the napkins."

"Mom, he's gonna know what's going on. He's not stupid."

Stubborn until the day she dies, she looked her daughter in the eye. "He cannot prove that you're not ordering all that for yourself, can he? No, so go on. Scoot, scoot. Mommy's right here." She watched as Rory walked into the diner, and stepped to the side a bit so she wouldn't be as conspicuous standing out on the sidewalk. When Rory hopped up on a stool at the counter, she jiggled in joy that her plan was going to work, and leaned her back against the building to wait.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rory finally emerged, and she felt her heart sag when she saw only one coffee and a small bag. But, she felt the need to confirm. "Well?"

"He would only sell me one."

Her heart sank even further. Luke obviously still hadn't calmed down from last night. "Ugh! Didn't you say they were both for you?"

"Yes I did, and he knew that I was lying."

"Did you do the blinky thing? You always do the blinky thing when you're lying."

"I didn't have to do the blinky thing. He knows you well enough to know that you're not gonna go a whole day with no coffee and especially no Danish."

It was true, he did know her too well. And there was no way she would go a whole day without coffee or a Danish. The coffee, she could get at the Inn. Sure, it would be a pale comparison to Luke's, but at least it was coffee. The Danish however, was another matter. She was stuck. "Ugh!"

"Why don't you go in there now and just make up?"

Yeah right. Luke was the one that needed to come out here and make up. "Why don't you give me half your Danish and some coffee?"

Rory handed over the bag she was holding. "I'll give you the Danish, but I'm keeping the coffee."

"What is a Danish without coffee?"

"The eternal question springs up again."

"There's no point in even eating a Danish without coffee."

"I'm going to school."

"Sad Danish, lonely Danish, step Danish."

"I'll see you tonight."

When Rory walked away, she knew she was stuck. "But…" Just then, the Bradley boy happened to cross by her, and she had an idea. "Hey, kid, do me a favor? Come here." Admittedly, it might be easier if she remembered the kid's name, but she was desperate for Luke's coffee, so details were sketchy at the moment. She reached into her purse and pulled out some money. "Will you go in there and buy me a coffee?" The kid looked like he was going to cry, and she bent down so she was closer to eye level with him, and pushed the money closer to him. "Please, please…" The kid ran off, and she knew she was hooped. Despairingly, she looked up at the diner, and pouted. There was no way she was going in there, because if she did, that meant she was the one wrong in their fight, and that wasn't the case. So instead, she hung her head, and moved in the direction of the Jeep so she could head to the Inn.

...

Without her morning Luke's coffee, there was just nothing good about the day. No matter where she went to get coffee, it just wasn't the same. She knew a lot of her less than stellar mood was because she was still upset at Luke, but regardless, no good coffee equaled a terrible day. As she pulled into her driveway, she let out a breath of relief. While she still didn't have coffee, at least she was home, which meant she could at least get away from people for a little while.

When she walked in the front door, she was fairly positive Rory would have beaten her home, so she called for her, and got confirmation yelled from the kitchen. As soon as she entered the room, she headed straight for the fridge, pulling out a bag of the coffee she kept around for emergencies. "Nowhere in either Stars Hollow or its surrounding counties can you get a decent cup of coffee. I swear, it's like a big, stupid coffee conspiracy."

"Why don't you just pour the water right into the bag?"

"Oh, you jest, but believe me, the thought has crossed my mind. It's looking better and better all the time." She poured the grounds into the coffee maker, and noticed that Rory was heading out of the room. "Where are you going? I'm not through complaining."

"I just have to get some more notes I need."

With the coffee starting to percolate, she sat down at the kitchen table to look over the notes Rory already had spread around the table. "What's this?"

"What?"

She pointed again at the notes spread in front of her, noting that the name Max Medina was written in several places. "This, that you're working on."

"Oh, that's my interview with Mr. Medina."

"What interview with Mr. Medina?" The name of her could-have-been boyfriend made her blood cool a little.

"The paper wanted to do a piece on the student's favorite teacher from the previous year and Paris assigned it to me when she caught wind of the fact that you and he…"

She cut off where Rory was going with that. "Wow, nice kid that Paris." Thankfully, Rory didn't seem too traumatized by the fact that her mother had almost dated her teacher, and as Lorelai read through the notes of Rory's interview, she started to think about what could have been. Rory broke her train of thought however with the announcement she was off to buy a folder for it. Left alone, Lorelai continued to read the interview, thinking about how if Luke hadn't been in the picture, maybe there could have been something more with Max Medina. Maybe she could have had a future with the English Lit teacher.

A soft knock at the back door had her startle a bit – no one came to the back door – and she was a little leery about opening it, but the silhouette behind the curtain could only come from one person. "Speak of the devil," she muttered under her breath as she opened the door to Luke. "Hey."

He pushed right past her into the kitchen, already in full rant mode. "I just pushed him in a lake."

Sometimes even Luke had statements that made her question their origin, and she stepped back to let Luke in the door. "What?"

"Jess. I got this call from Taylor that he thinks Jess stole the bridge money and I went to confront him and he was being impossible and I just pushed him in a lake. This is bad."

"That depends, can he swim?"

"He's fine. He's wet. I just…I lost it, you know. You were right. I am in so far over my head that I can't see my own hat."

Her heart swelled at his words, but didn't think saying 'I told you so' was appropriate at the moment. "Try turning it around."

"What was I thinking? Why did I say yes to this?"

"Because you saw a kid in desperate need of some help and you thought you would throw him a line."

"But me, raising a kid? I don't even like kids. They're always sticky, you know, like they've got jam on their hands. Even if there's no jam in the house, somehow they've always got jam on their hands. I'm not the right guy to deal with that. I have no patience for jam hands."

While Luke definitely got riled up about things, she was pretty sure this was one of the most riled up versions of Luke she had ever seen, and knew she had to push aside her hurt from their argument, and jump in. "Ok, slow down. First of all, Jess is seventeen, so I think he's probably past the jam hands stage by now. And second of all, you can do this. If you want to, you are totally capable. But you can't just buy a bed and some sheets and expect the rest to take care of itself. That will not work."

"I swear, I'm gonna kill Liz."

"Hey, Liz is not the point anymore. Liz is not here. Jess is here. Focus on him. What are you gonna do about him?"

They were interrupted by Babette bursting through the kitchen door, who seemed not at all fazed by Luke and Lorelai having a heavy discussion in Lorelai's kitchen in the middle of the day. The gossip queen was hysterical, looking for Pierpont, and Lorelai could only pretend to seem as though she cared.

Apparently however, Luke seemed to have a read on the gnome's whereabouts, and after pacifying the frantic woman, he made a beeline for the front door. Leaving Babette in the kitchen, Lorelai chased after Luke. "Where are you going?"

He barely even paused in his gait as he answered. "I have to take care of something. I'll see you tomorrow at the diner for your Danish, right?"

When he stood by the front door, she paused inches from him, and quirked an eyebrow. "Tomorrow isn't Danish Day."

Luke leaned in, and grabbed the hem of her shirt between his forefinger and thumb, pulling it slightly away from her body and closer to him, before leaning in to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "Just be there." His words puffed over her lips and made her shiver in delight.

"Yes, sir."

After he hopped down the steps of the porch, he turned and threw her a wave, and she desperately wished she could run after him and pull him in the house to have her way with him. Now that they made up, there was that whole prospect of make-up sex. However, he clearly was a man on a mission, and she had a teenager due to arrive back home any minute.

As she closed the door behind her, she sighed. They were really going to have to figure out the living arrangements soon.

...

Candlelight flickered along the walls of the bathroom, and she sighed as she slipped further into the deep claw foot tub, which was currently teeming with bubbles from her bubble bath. A sigh escaped her lips as the tension eased from her body. After Luke had left earlier that evening, she felt better about things. Clearly, he had seen he had been in the wrong during their argument, and had apologized. Hell, he even promised her that the next day would also be Danish day. That might as well have been a marriage proposal in her world.

From the arm she had draped over the side of the tub, she flicked her fingers out and brushed against the side of the wine glass she had brought up with her. As she picked the glass up, and tilted the red liquid to her lips, a soft knocking came from the door.

"Mom?"

Blinking a couple of times to focus, she answered. "Yeah?"

Rory's voice continued to be muffled through the door. "Luke is on the phone. Did you want me to tell him you'll call him back?"

Shifting slightly in the tub, she put the glass of wine back down. "No, bring it in here. It's ok, there's a snow drift of bubbles in here."

Even with the hyperbolic promise, Rory shuffled in the room with her eyes downcast, reached far out to hand her mother the receiver, and then hightailed it back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Smiling at Rory's exit, she put the receiver up to her ear. "Well, hey there, handsome."

"I wasn't sure you'd want to talk to me."

With how relaxed she was feeling at the moment, she probably would have taken a phone call from her mother. "Well, you did promise me a Danish tomorrow."

On the other end of the line, Luke chuckled. "It's the least I could do." He paused for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Lorelai."

She lifted her free hand out of the water to airily wave it in dismissal of his apology, even though Luke couldn't see it. "It's forgotten."

The sound of water had Luke's ears perking up. "Where are you?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I'm in the bathtub." She was fairly positive she heard Luke gulp, and a sly smile spread across her face. "Just lying here, covered in bubbles, candles flickering beside me, as I feel myself loosening up from the wine I'm drinking." It didn't surprise her when it took him awhile to answer.

"You're killing me."

"Well, you're more than welcome to come join."

Luke let out a low growl. "There is nothing I want more right now."

In the background, she heard something that sounded like cutlery hitting the floor, and it made her sit up a bit. "Where are you?"

"In the diner – the storeroom to be exact. Can't exactly have calls with you with Jess right there."

Instantly she felt a little guilty about teasing him, but she grew serious. "You know we're going to need to figure something out with him, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Luke sighed. "Speaking of, I need to get back. We're ok?"

She nodded even though she knew he couldn't see it. "We are."

"See you tomorrow?"

"If coffee is involved, then, yes."

She could hear his smile when he spoke. "Goodnight, Lorelai."

"Goodnight, Luke." Turning off the receiver, she dropped it to the floor and once again slid down into the bubbles, letting the warmth melt the rest of her worries away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it. I give all credit to the writers of this fantastic show for the dialogue I've borrowed.

 **Author's Notes:** So, not only did I discover this week that one of my favorite authors, **Meags09** , has an amazing devoted Tumblr account to JavaJunkie fics (Just search her name on tumblr to find it) but she deemed my fic worthy of being included. Pretty much made my whole week.

* * *

 **Six and Seven**

A phone call.

Such a simple concept. People participate in them daily, never giving them much thought beyond the topic of conversation. Sometimes, they're initiated, sometimes they're received.

Each one is different.

However, something so simple, can lead to life changing events. The change could happen immediately. Or, the change could be a slow burn, unassuming until everything comes crashing down days, weeks, months later. And in those instances, when real thought is put into the exact moment things went wrong, it can come down to that phone call.

If only she knew the far reaching consequences of that one phone call.

...

She stood watching as he sat at the edge of her bed, pulling on his boots. Her robe slipped slightly open, and she shivered as a waft of cool air snuck its way in. Folding the material across her chest, she crossed her arms over it to keep it closed, biting her bottom lip to try to stem the emotions swirling through her. It was so hard to have to watch him leave every evening because he needed to get home to Jess. They had finally tackled the subject of how Jess was going to fit into their relationship, and had settled on that Jess would be similar to Rory – supervision was always required at night. However, that decision meant they no longer could spend the full night together. Before, Luke could easily stay over at the Crap Shack, but now they needed to be in separate locations at all times since Jess didn't have any friends as of yet who would have him staying over. Luke had gone ahead and finally replaced his single bed with a double bed in case Rory ever stayed the night at Lane's, thereby giving Lorelai the freedom to stay away from the Crap Shack, but Lorelai had refused to stay over at the apartment. It was just too weird to have Jess sleeping at their feet.

And, it's not like she and Jess got along.

As such, at the end of every evening Luke came over, she was forced to stand and watch him get dressed, and then leave her to go back to being a responsible guardian. Tonight was no different, and she sighed when he finished lacing his boots. The sound made him look up, and he frowned as he stood up and crossed the room towards her. He reached up and rubbed her arms before pulling her into a hug. "Remember, this is only temporary. Once Jess is settled, I'll feel better about letting him stay home alone."

She nodded, but knew she couldn't get her hopes up. A troubled teenager tended to always be a troubled teenager – there was no instant change in behavior. And this new arrangement they had decided on was already starting to bother her. Every time Luke left her after sex, she couldn't help but feel a little hollow. Even during the years they were secretly sleeping together, they had a few nights stolen here and there where they spent the entire night wrapped in each other's arms. Sure, one or the other would have to creatively sneak out the next morning, but the nights happened regardless. Now, no matter what, because of Jess, Luke had to go home, and it was already getting frustrating.

As she followed Luke down the stairs to the front door, she briefly reconsidered her stance on staying over at the apartment. Even though the situation would be infinitely awkward, being able to fall asleep in Luke's arms for a whole night would be heaven. But, it wouldn't be enough, and she knew everyone would be frustrated in the small space, so it couldn't happen. And she and Jess definitely didn't see eye to eye. Maybe eventually, she could convince Luke to look for a different place to live.

Upon reaching the front door, Luke turned and pulled her into his arms one final time for the night, and placed a tender kiss on the top of her head. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded against his chest, breathing in his scent, hoping it would stick in her nose until she fell asleep. "You bet."

...

The rest of the week went by in a blur. Every day was spent doing something to get Rory ready for the debutante ball, and before she knew it, it was time for Christopher to arrive. Truthfully, in the back of her mind, she was feeling a little uneasy about the whole Christopher visit. The last time they had seen each other, she had rebuked his advances, and since he hadn't exactly kept in touch since then, she was a little worried that the whole visit was going to be awkward. Their phone call earlier in the week went fairly decently, but talking on the phone and talking in person were two very, very different things.

However, her reservations were for naught, as the second she and Christopher saw each other, their easy banter returned, and jokes were made about the new Volvo. They discussed Christopher's new job, and for the first time, she felt like Christopher was finally making something of himself. He was finally becoming that person she always knew he could be, and she was genuinely happy for him. So much so, she was thoroughly enjoying his visit, even perking up at his suggestion to stop in the diner on the way to meet up with Dean and Rory at Patty's to pick up some coffee.

The closer they got to the diner, the lighter she felt on her feet, and it must have been noticeable, as Christopher looked over to her and smirked. "You're really into this guy, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, look at you. You're practically floating towards the place."

"Well, there's coffee in there."

He shook his head as he grinned. "Ah yes. How could I forget."

As they neared the front door, Christopher stepped forward to open the door, and held it open as she breezed through. Noticing that the counter was unusually full, she glanced around the diner, and spotted an empty table near the window in the back. She moved towards it and sat down, watching as Christopher settled down across from her. "We should probably get something for Rory and Dean, too. I don't want Rory swiping my coffee."

"I still can't believe Rory has a Dean."

She absently answered, "yeah" as she scanned the room for Luke. Not seeing him, she settled back in her chair, and looked across the table at Rory's father. "So, do you think Dean has any broken toes yet?"

Snorting, Chris replied, "knowing the gracelessness of our daughter, it's a distinct possibility." He looked around the diner before settling his eyes back on her. "So, when do I get to meet this boyfriend of yours?"

"You've already met Luke."

"Yes, but I've never met him in the capacity of him being the boyfriend. Before, he was merely the guy who brought you coffee."

"In my world, that's pretty much on par."

As if on cue, she felt his presence beside her, and looked up at him with a grin on her face. That grin faltered however, as she noticed the irritation laced with anger that was written all over his face. He wasn't even looking at her, but instead, was focused entirely on Christopher.

"What's he doing here?"

The question was directed at her, but she noticed he never took his gaze off of Christopher, and she could feel a pit of concern taking root in her stomach. "You remember Christopher, Rory's dad." She shifted her gaze over to Christopher, and continued the introductions. "Chris, this is Luke. My boyfriend." At the last second, she decided to tack on the moniker to Luke, in hopes that it would do something to diffuse the sudden tension in the room.

Christopher pushed his chair back and stood up, holding his hand out to Luke. "So, we finally officially meet. Heard a lot about you."

Luke glanced down at the proffered hand, but chose to ignore it, and Christopher, instead shifting his gaze to Lorelai. "Coffee?"

Luke's tone was thick with thinly veiled anger, but she chose to ignore it, instead trying to salvage this interaction which was quickly heading south. Nodding, she answered, "Yes, please, but in a to-go cup. I also need another one for Rory, and a hot chocolate for Dean." She shifted her gaze over to Christopher. "Chris?"

Seemingly not fazed by Luke's dismissal of him, Christopher sat back down, and grabbed one of the menus on table, quickly perusing it. "Can you make a chai latte?"

She was about to snort at Chris' question because Luke had never, ever made anything with a name in a foreign language, but when he nodded, and said "you got it" she was taken aback. She watched him quickly retreat towards the counter, and felt that seed of concern start to grow. Luke seemed really, really angry, and it felt as though that anger was being directed towards her.

"That's a man of few words right there."

At the sound of Chris' voice, she turned back to the person sitting across the table from her. "You could say that."

Chris leaned back against his chair and grinned. "Well, when with someone like you, a man can only get in so many words anyways, so it fits."

His jovial attitude had that seed of concern start to wither in her stomach, and she quickly forgot about her boyfriend's less than stellar interaction with them. It was times like these that always reminded her of why she was always drawn so much to Christopher. He was so charming, and had a personality that was infectious, and always made her feel like she was the most important person in the world. Sure, he was incredibly frustrating, and more often than not, completely absent, but when he was around, he made her forget about his indiscretions. "Hey, now."

Chris put up his hands in mock surrender. "I never said that was a bad thing – just an observation."

She leaned in a little closer to him. "You always seem to get a lot of words in with me."

"Well, I understand your thought processes. I know when and where to jump in, and what pop culture reference is most appropriate to use."

Nodding, she couldn't help but agree. "That you do." She found herself staring at him and grinning, and it was only the slamming of a tray of coffees in front of her that broke her out of her trance. Some of the precious liquid sloshed out of the lids, but she chose to ignore it as she reached down to her purse for her wallet. She went to hand Luke the bills to cover the cost, but when all she saw was his retreating back, she shrugged and instead left the bills on the table. "Ready to go see how badly this dance lesson is going?"

Christopher stood with Lorelai and grinned. "Absolutely." He picked up the tray of coffees and followed as Lorelai led the way out of the diner, and the two of them crossed the street towards Miss Patty's. They climbed the stairs and saw Rory and Dean in the middle of a dance, and both stifled a chuckle when they saw how badly it was going. The kids seemed thrilled with the possibility of a break, and she had her attention focused on her daughter, which is why when Christopher tugged on her hand, she stumbled.

"Oh, well, most any woman can do it."

Feeling a slight thrill at his teasing, she looked at him with a sparkle in her eye. "I wasn't ready, I wasn't ready. I want a do over."

He sighed, but grinned back at her before putting his hand out. "Fine. May I have this dance?"

"I don't know. Do you have a trust fund?" She looked over at Rory and smirked. "Always make sure."

As the music played, she and Christopher glided along the floor, and she felt herself being swept up not only in his arms, but memories of the past. Memories of past dances – both in public and in private – memories of places they went, and things they did all swirled around as Chris swirled her around on the dancefloor. It was a heady feeling, and when the music stopped, it was only the clapping of the kids that brought her back to the here and now. Then, with Patty's advances towards Christopher, she was able to escape the charging atmosphere, but a permanent grin seemed to have etched itself on her face.

After each grabbing their respective cup of coffee, they descended the stairs, the thrill of the dance still dominating her thoughts. "Did you know you still knew how to do that?"

"I wish I didn't. Imagine what we could do if we freed up the brain space that holds onto the Viennese Waltz."

She snorted in agreement. "Yeah, it's right up there in between old Brady Bunch reruns and the lyrics to Rapture."

Christopher didn't answer, but instead took a drink of his latte, immediately grimacing because of the taste. "Oof. I gotta say, this isn't like the chai lattes in Boston."

"Yeah, well, expecting Luke to make a chai anything was completely insane."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he just threw a cinnamon stick in some tea."

Thinking back to the look on Luke's face when he saw Christopher, and because she cared about Christopher, she admitted, "I'm pretty sure it's not a cinnamon stick."

Christopher looked down at the cup he was holding, and frowned. "Ok, throwing this out now." As they passed by a garbage can, he dropped his suspicious drink in.

As they continued walking, curiosity about this new Christopher was eating at her. "So, chai latte. When did that happen?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Everyone at work drinks them."

"Huh. Well, since you still haven't told me what exactly it is that you do, I'm gonna go with yoga instructor or chiropractor."

Throughout the rest of the day, they fell back into the easy rhythm of being with each other they had shared since they were kids. It continued into the evening as they helped Rory and Dean with last minute preparations, and as she climbed the stairs to go to bed, she couldn't help but chuckle at the complete 180 that was Christopher. Here he was, instead of convincing her to stay up drinking, settling in to do some work. It was truly amazing how much he had changed since the last time he was in town, and she was suitably impressed.

But as she settled into bed, she realized that she hadn't talked to Luke all day, other than the clipped conversation in the diner. With that in mind, she reached over for the phone next to her bed, and noting the time, called the apartment number, praying Jess wouldn't be the one who answered. The number of rings kept adding up, and she felt that seed of concern in her stomach sprouting once again. Just as she was about to hang up, assuming Luke had fallen asleep for the evening, he answered with a gruff, "yeah?"

Unperturbed by his gruffness, she responded with her usual upbeat enthusiasm. "Hey! It's me!"

When he didn't reply right away, she could feel that sprout of concern from earlier in the day starting to grow leaves. Finally, he spoke. "Hold on."

She waited as she heard a rustling in the background, and was fairly certain she heard a door click closed. It was a few more moments before he spoke again, and when he did, it made her jump a bit in surprise. "Had to move downstairs. Jess."

He was definitely being more brusque than usual, and it was really starting to worry her. "Yeah, no problem." She shifted a little on the bed. "How was your day?"

Once again, there was a long pause, and when he spoke, it wasn't to answer her question, but instead, it was a question of his own. "Why didn't you tell me about Christopher being here?"

"What?"

"Christopher. He's here."

Yup, he was angry, and as usual, his mood was starting to rub off on her, and she felt herself getting annoyed at what sounded like an unspoken accusation. "Uh, yeah, I know. Either that, or he has a twin I never knew about, and the two of them have put together an incredibly detailed plan to bait and switch me." She wasn't certain, but she swore she could hear Luke grinding his teeth.

"Why is he here?"

"I told you. Rory's going to that Debutante ball for my mother."

"Yes, but you never mentioned that Christopher was coming."

"Oh, well, yeah. The fathers are supposed to give the daughters away."

"And you didn't feel the need to share that?"

"Uh, no, why?" There was a long pause, and she wasn't sure what he was thinking.

"Is he staying with you?"

Suddenly, she had a feeling she needed to be very careful with her answer, but unfortunately, her annoyance was growing. "Yes, he is. Is that a problem?"

There was another long pause, and finally, he answered. "Nope. No problem."

"Ok, good."

"Look, it's late. I need to get to bed. I need to go."

He was definitely brushing her off, and it wasn't sitting all that well with her. "Uh, ok. Goodnight."

"You too."

And with that, she heard the click on the other end of the line of the call ending, and she was suddenly irrationally angry because she couldn't understand what his problem was. In the past, she would have stormed out of the house, walked straight to the diner, and demanded an explanation from him in person. But, she couldn't now, because not only would Chris question where she was going in her pajamas, but Jess was at the apartment. Of course Jess was there. He was just another impediment that was suddenly making her relationship with Luke very challenging.

Sighing, she put the phone back in its cradle, and leaned over to turn off her light, hoping she could get some sleep so she would be ready for the ball the next night.

...

As they walked down the sidewalk in town after getting home from the ball, she thought back over the evening. While the argument between her parents had been worrisome, the memory of Christopher cracking up during the fan dance made her smile. As such, she decided to push aside her annoyance about the clipped call with Luke the night before, and suggested they all get a burger. Dean declined, and she was surprised when Christopher did as well. They had been having such a great time during his trip, and she was finding his whole new sense of responsibility very attractive. So much so, she told Rory to head into Luke's and order for them while she stayed outside with Christopher.

Her initial intent was to thank him for finally being there for Rory, and in the beginning, she did exactly that, but then all of a sudden, she found herself flirting with him. Logically, she knew it was because it was a natural road for her and Christopher to travel, and she really had enjoyed his visit, but selfishly, she also knew it was because there was definitely some sort of rift happening between her and Luke. But thankfully, just as she was teetering on a precipice she had no right being on, Christopher stopped her cold when he mentioned he was going to back to Boston to his new girlfriend, Sherri. He really had changed, and as he walked away, she couldn't help but glance back towards the diner and realize she had changed as well. They both had grown up in their own ways, and had moved on from one another.

Smiling at that thought, she headed into the diner, letting the familiar smells wash over her before she settled down in a chair across from Rory. The two gossiped for a bit about Sherri and the evening for a bit, before Luke interrupted them by putting Lorelai's burger in front of her. When she looked up into his eyes, she could see he was much more relaxed, and while she knew they needed to have a serious discussion, the situation seemed to have calmed for the time being. It wouldn't have surprised her if Rory had let Luke know that Christopher was very soon on his way back to Boston.

"So, back from the ball, huh?"

She heard clearly the unspoken question of if she was back from Christopher, and with absolute certainty, she nodded, but couldn't help but lighten the situation with a quip. "Yes. I did leave behind a glass slipper, but since it was etched with your phone number, I know I'll get it back."

He nodded before answering. "Good." And with that, he turned, and let the girls eat in peace, while gossiping about which ball Rory should attend next.

...

Following Christopher's departure, things with Luke were tense. As time wore on, they seemed to settle back into their usual routine, but she was definitely aware of the sore spot that was Christopher. However, as childish as it may have seemed, she felt like it balanced out the sore spot that was Jess. As such, she hardly thought about their tiff, and was back to her usual jovial self, which meant coffee was the first thing on her mind this morning.

The temperature was starting to lean towards fall, so heavier jackets were already required, but the early morning sun felt good on her face as she and Rory stumbled through the streets, focused entirely on their soon-to-have caffeine fix. After what seemed like way too long of a time, they finally reached the mecca of their desires. However, as they entered the premises, it was immediately obvious they would have to wait a little longer for that precious hit of coffee, as the place was crawling with people. A table was vacant right by the door – probably because of the cool air constantly wafting in as people came and went – but they seized the opening, and sat down.

Subtly scanning the place for Luke, but not seeing him, she slipped off her jacket, and moved to the seat closest to the window, in hopes of escaping any draft from the door. "Wow, busy today. Has Luke been advertising or something?"

Rory shrugged out of her jacket, and put it on the back of her chair. "He gets good word-of-mouth."

"Well, we have to start spreading bad word-of-mouth so we can always have a table."

"Well, that would be wrong, but sure. Vermin?"

"Or no potable water."

"Or no potable vermin."

"That would scare them away."

"Or confuse them away."

A flash of a flannel caught her eye, and she finally spotted her man, but he was in a situation she rarely saw him in – actually conversing with customers. She tilted her head as she studied him, and had to voice her opinion of what was happening. "It's so weird to see him talking like that."

Rory glanced over towards Luke and then back to her mother. "Like what?"

"Just all friendly. He's usually only good for a quick couple of gruff monosyllables, and then he's off."

Rory looked back over to study the situation, and noted, "He is the master of the monosyllable."

She narrowed her eyes as she continued to watch Luke interact with the table of women. "He never flirts with any of the women, do you notice that?"

"Uh, that's because he flirts with you all day."

Letting a giggle escape, she nodded. "You're right."

Rolling her eyes, Rory stared down her mother. "Hey, flirt with him now, we need coffee."

Satisfied with the request, she picked up a napkin and started waving it in the air. To add to the dramatics, she threw a heavy southern accent into her voice. Besides, she always seemed to draw a smirk out of Luke with that accent. "Oh Luke, we're just dying for some refreshments."

He looked up from the conversation he was having with annoyance, and yelled across the diner. "Keep your pants on."

At his rebuke, she put the napkin back on the table. "Hmm. He can turn it off and turn it on so fast." As she tried to deflect the fact that she was keeping a Barry Manilow CD under her driver's seat, Luke finally decided to grace them with his presence, and all of a sudden the topic of guilty pleasures came up, and she couldn't help but flirt with Luke. "Do you have a guilty pleasure Luke?"

He looked uneasily at Rory, and visibly swallowed, before growling a warning, "Lorelai..."

She airily waved her hand, but was thoroughly enjoying his reaction. "Nothing dirty, Luke. I already know those."

Rory put her face in her hands and groaned. "Moooommm."

Continuing as if Rory hadn't reacted, she kept her gaze firmly on Luke. "Or is there something I don't know."

"We'll have two muffins please!" Rory practically shouted their order, trying anything to get her mother to stop the flirting she had so misguidedly told her mother to do.

Luke nodded, grateful for Rory's interruption. "You got it," he said before turning quickly to walk away.

Grinning at winning yet another round, she puffed up her chest, only to realize that she still didn't have coffee in front of her. Frowning, she looked at her daughter as she pointed to her empty mug. "This is your fault, you know." However, as they sat and waited for their order, she couldn't help but think about Luke talking with those women. He never did that, and now suddenly she was noticing he was talking to women more and more. Had the Christopher visit done more damage to their relationship than she previously thought?

...

"Agh!"

Rory looked over at her mother, who was currently on her way into the kitchen. "What?"

Huffing out a breath, she replied, "the car won't start."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. It's just dead. I turned the key, and it makes a horrible sound."

"What kind of sound?"

"Like rrar, rrar, rrar. You know, but less feminine."

Full of understanding of the situation, Rory nodded. "That's the battery."

Not seeing the connection, she frowned. "Well, what did I ever do to make the battery mad?"

Rory leaned back in her chair, and started ticking off fingers as she spoke. "Let's see. You've kept the radio on all night, killing the battery. You've kept the lights on all night, killing the battery. You've kept the door open, which keeps the ceiling light on, all night, killing the battery."

She waved her hand to try to get Rory to stop. "Ok, well then, I've done multiple things to make the battery mad."

Noting the time, Rory had to ask, "You gonna walk?"

"I'm wearing heels."

"Change your shoes."

"I'd have to change my outfit."

"Change your outfit."

"I'd have to walk upstairs."

Rolling her eyes, Rory replied, "Suddenly I'm living with Zsa Zsa Gabor."

"I'm gonna call Luke."

While her mother dialed, Rory stood up and started trying to shove all of her books into her bag without much success. "This thing is too small."

"Luke's."

She heard Luke's gruff answer, but since Rory was in front of her, she was distracted, and so quickly responded, "Luke, hold on," before turning to Rory. "That backpack is not too small."

The two of them went back and forth a few times before her name was yelled so loudly, she had to pull the phone away from her ear. "Jeez, you scared me, Luke."

"You called me."

She giggled. "Oh yeah. Hey, can you come pick me up and drive me to work?"

"What's wrong with the Jeep?"

"Uh, the battery is mad at me."

Luke sighed long, and deeply. "Did you leave the radio on again?"

She gasped at his insinuation. "Not this time. Come pick me up?"

"I do have a business to run you know."

"Ooo! That's right. Can you bring me a coffee to go?"

Again, Luke sighed, and she knew he was rubbing a hand over his face. "I'll be there in 15."

"Thank you!" As she hung up, she watched as Rory continued to Tetris-stack her books in her bag. "You have a problem."

...

Throughout the years, she had prided herself on being involved just enough in Rory's schooling that teachers knew who she was, but not enough that anyone would ever dare to peg her as a member of the PTA. While at times, she definitely wished she could have spent more time at Rory's school, the fact that she was a single parent prevented her from doing so. The hours spent at work were long, and when she wasn't working, she wanted to spend time with her daughter – not random stay-at-home mothers with whom she had nothing in common.

However, when Rory started attending Chilton, she stayed even further away. Here was a world she had escaped from at a young age, and as she had gotten older, she felt less and less connected to it. While Rory seemed to be able to tolerate the world, she avoided it at all costs. But when Rory was called into the counsellor's office, she knew she would have to venture back into the world she hated so much, but this time, to protect her kid.

And so, she did. She went there with an argument on the tip of her tongue, and she was ready to go to battle for Rory. But somehow, she ended up being shanghaied into joining a parent group, and did nothing to help Rory.

All in all, it was a failure of a meeting.

At the end of the day however, if this is what it would take to get Rory into Harvard, then she could do it. She could pretend to be part of the Hartford crowd. She could pretend to care about the parties being held, and who was currently sleeping with whom. She could pretend to be excited to be there. And then, she would escape to her hometown, and the people who cared about her, like her boyfriend who was willing to use his break at work to come over and inspect the battery on the Jeep, to make sure she was safe.

Unfortunately however, her mother forced her hand at dinner, and she found herself saying she was joining the Booster Club, even though that was one of the clubs she had already nixed. Thankfully, they didn't have matching sweatshirts.

But then during the very first meeting, she had to go and open her big mouth, and volunteer the Inn for the fashion show. And worse yet, she found out she was going to not only coordinate it, but have to be involved in it as well. The only bright light in the whole thing was that she managed to sucker Emily in to being in the show as well. If she was going to have to look like an idiot, the only thing that would soften the blow was having her mother looking like an idiot right there beside her.

The actual planning of the event was a breeze – she did plan events for a living after all – but the actual day had her nearly hyperventilating with stress. Mostly because it seemed as though everyone involved was completely incompetent. And when she vividly imagined strangling the man assigned to build the runway after he told her that the tilt the stage had "wasn't that bad," she freaked out and called Luke.

She may or may not have been hysterical on the phone.

Trying to calm herself, she stayed at the front desk with Michel, and thankfully he was doing his job well – so well, she clearly wasn't needed. So when she finally felt like her heart wasn't going to beat out of her chest, she bravely walked back to check on the stage. It was still tilting, and she could feel her blood pressure quickly rising again. And Sookie talking about dry lettuce definitely didn't help.

But then, it was like the atmosphere suddenly shifted, and she could feel her heart racing, but for a completely different reason. When she looked over her shoulder, her assumptions were confirmed – Luke was there, and he was going to fix everything. In all honesty, she could have jumped him right then and there, she was so happy to see him, but there was a stage to be fixed. The jumping could happen later. So instead, she moved quickly towards him, pure delight dancing in her eyes. "Ah, thank god! You brought Bert."

Luke smirked at her jubilance and patted his trusty toolbox. "Right here."

She turned on her heel, and waved in the direction of the stage. "My men, follow me."

As Luke hustled to catch up to her and matched her stride, he leaned in slightly towards her. "By the way, you do tell people that you're the one that named my toolbox, right?"

With his presence, her mood had considerably lightened, so she couldn't help but giggle at his words. "Toolbox. Dirty."

"Oh, jeez."

His retort would have normally caused a full on laugh to escape from her lips, but they had made it to the stage, and she was instantly back in work mode, and looked at the person she wanted nothing more than to strangle. "Ok, um, move."

The man tinkering on the stage looked up at her terse tone. "What?"

"I want Luke to look at it."

"Hey, I put this thing together."

Since she was at her place of employ, she knew she had to be at least semi-civil, so her comment was kept to family friendly. "Yes, and I loved your work in Pisa, now get out of the way, please."

Luke watched as Lorelai got her way, and was loving every minute of it. While on the outside, to those who didn't know her, she seemed to be just another pretty face, but he knew that on the inside, she was a bulldog, and could handle anything thrown in her direction. And when she was stressed out, well, it just made the situation that much more interesting. With the hapless worker out of the way, he glanced at Lorelai out of the side of his eye, wanting to see her reaction to him teasing her. "Ok, so what seems to be the problem?" Thankfully, since she was so stressed out, she took his question at face value, and he couldn't help but smirk at her as she started to stumble out her disbelief.

"Uh ha! The problem is...that's not funny." While it was annoying she didn't pick up immediately on his teasing, the fact that she knew he was doing so to help ease her stress was warmly comforting. The wink he threw her way was also much appreciated.

"I like it when you're stressed." Luke turned towards the stage, and squatted down so he could fully inspect it. "Oh man, he put this thing up all wrong."

Feeling the stress start to return, she squatted down next to Luke. "Can you fix it?"

"I don't know. I'll see."

No, he had to fix it. "You can fix it."

"You can say it all you want, it doesn't make it true."

"You can fix it."

"Not with you hovering, I can't."

Sensing she wasn't doing any good, she relented. "Ok, I'm leaving. You can fix it." As she stood up, she threw her own wink his way, and walked away, meeting up with one of the mothers from the Booster Club. As she led Ava towards the changing room, they had to pass by Luke, and she couldn't help but ask again. "Fix it yet?"

"The moron used the wrong supports."

"Please tell me you can fix it."

"If I told you I couldn't fix it, would you accept that?"

"No."

"I can fix it."

"Thank you." She turned back towards Ava, who was noticeably staring at Luke, and she didn't like it, so tried to direct her away. "Uh, Ava, the room's right back here."

Without even turning towards the direction Lorelai was trying to make her go, Ava pointed towards Luke. "Him."

"Who?"

"There, man with tools, who is that?"

"Oh, that's Luke."

"Luke, I like Luke."

Forgetting that the women of the Booster Club knew nothing about her life, Lorelai was completely thrown by Ava's forwardness. "What?"

"Oh, he's adorable. And he looks strong. Is he strong?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't think he's gonna be in a sideshow anytime soon, but he can get the lid off a pickle jar."

"Is he single?"

This was exactly one of the reasons why she escaped the Hartford society life, because of women like Ava. "Uh, no. He's with me."

She couldn't be sure if Ava was going to say anything in response to that or not, but would never know, as Emily chose that moment to make her entrance. As such, Lorelai took the opportunity to usher Ava into the back room, and eventually did the same with her mother. Needing a sense of calmness again, she moved towards Luke, and felt a sense of elation when she saw the stage was no longer tilting. "Oh! You fixed it!"

Luke stood up and looked at his handiwork while nodding. "Yup, for the time being, but I'm gonna stick around for a while just to make sure nothing happens."

Thinking back to Ava's ogling of her boyfriend, Lorelai was suddenly uneasy about having Luke stay any longer than necessary, and kind of hoped he needed to get back to the diner. "Oh, ok."

"What?"

"What?"

"You don't want me to stick around?"

At Luke's question, she realized he had no idea about her uneasiness of the Hartford crowd, and to him, it probably seemed like she didn't want him to stay. She shook her head. "I didn't say that."

"Is there a reason I shouldn't stick around?"

"Are you listening? It's fine."

"Because I'm just doing this for you. I mean if this thing goes and someone breaks their neck…"

She stepped forward and pressed her lips to his, cutting off any further protests. When she felt his arms snake around her body, she pulled back slightly and smiled. "Luke. Stick around."

His voice was quiet as he answered. "All right. If you insist."

She lifted her arms to rest on his shoulders, and clasped her hands behind his neck before leaning in to kiss him again. After a few moments, she pulled back. "Thank you for fixing this."

He nodded once. "You got it."

The rest of the event went off without a hitch, and she found herself basking in the adoration of the other members of the Booster Club. But then, her mother had to speak. Of course she had to speak. The event had gone too well, and therefore, Emily had to be a downer. And as always, she never exactly said anything bad – no, all Emily said was how nicely Lorelai was fitting into the world she ran away from – but it was enough to absolutely jar the good mood Lorelai finally found herself in. She tried so hard to get away from the Hartford society world – and that's exactly why she was avoiding as much as she could in regards to Chilton. And then she was suckered into volunteering, and she knew Emily was just pushing her buttons, but her words rang true – she had fit into the world, and had fit into it just a little too easily during this event.

Desperate for something to ground her back in the world of Stars Hollow – desperate for some _one_ to ground her, she scanned the room for the man who had looked at her with complete adoration as she walked the runway. But when she finally saw him, he was talking animatedly with Ava, and all she could think about was seeing Luke so many times lately flirting with women in the diner. Had the Christopher visit really driven such a wedge between her and Luke and she hadn't seen? Was he slipping away from her?

Worry flooded through her, and she was about to step forward to claim her man, but then Carol came to pull her back to the front desk – there was an unhappy guest – and she couldn't stall for time. She had to get back to work. And of course, once she was finished, Luke was gone.

...

The next day, she needed to see Luke. She needed to talk to him about Ava, but more importantly, she needed to see if there was something happening between them. It wasn't usual for Luke to be talking to so many women, and for some reason, it was really bothering her that he was – especially since it only seemed to have started since Christopher was in town. Entering the diner, she moved directly towards the counter, and felt a little of the pressure of the situation ease when Luke smiled at her.

"Hey, good party yesterday."

"Yeah, not bad."

"Yeah, I like the new look. It was very high-class substitute teacher."

She quirked an eyebrow at his comment. "Oh yeah? I might have to borrow the outfit then, so we can use it one night to play out these teacher fantasies you're apparently harboring."

Ignoring her, Luke jerked a thumb back towards the coffee pot. "Coffee?"

Knowing she was short on time, she responded, "oh, to go."

"Ok."

As Luke filled a cup for her, she remembered what she came in for in the first place, and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Hey Luke, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What?"

Here goes nothing. "Yesterday I saw you talking to Ava, you know, she's in my Booster Club?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I know who she is."

"Oh good. Well, good. So anyhow, I saw you guys talking alone and it seemed kind of private, and she mentioned earlier that you didn't make her, you know, gag, so I figured she might have been flirting with you, and well, you didn't seem to be stopping her at all. And, look, I know I have no right to say anything because I flirt too, even though it's never anything serious, but, I don't know, I'd just like to keep the Chilton life separate from my Stars Hollow life, so, if there's any way in the future you could avoid talking to Chilton moms, that would be really great." She blew out a breath when she finished, fairly satisfied she had managed to get out what she needed to say. Maybe.

Luke looked at her for a long moment before crossing his arms over his chest. "Boy, I tell you, you've got nerve."

She reeled back at his comment, unsure of where this was going. "Um, ok."

"Ok?"

Now that he was looking at her like he was, she began to realize that maybe her assumptions were correct – he was talking to more women because of Christopher, and felt totally justified in doing so. And she didn't like it. "You don't see any validity to my side at all?"

"I am a grown man. You cannot tell me who I can talk to."

"I'm not telling you who to talk to, I'm telling you who not to talk to."

"You can't tell me that either."

"Look…"

Deciding that it was time to put her out of her misery, he uncrossed his arms, and put his palms on the counter, so he could lean close to her, his eyes sparkling with humor. "You're jealous."

"What? I'm not jealous. I'm just…"

"You're totally jealous."

Sensing all of a sudden that Luke had been teasing her during this entire conversation, but not wanting to admit that she totally fell for it, she started backing away to leave. "No. That's not it at all. I don't get jealous."

As Lorelai started backing towards the door, Luke could only smirk at her. "And by the way, I was giving her directions for the quickest way back to Hartford. It was very romantic. I said you take a right at Deerfield, and you catch the I-5 and you take it south."

Desperate to keep up her annoyance, even though she had clearly misread the situation, and now Luke was looking way too satisfied with himself, she tried to recover. "That is so typical of you."

"What?"

"That is not the quickest way back to Hartford. Everybody knows that you take Main to Cherry to Lynnwood and then grab the I-11. Everybody knows that, Luke. Everybody, apparently, but you." With that, she hightailed it out of the diner, praying that no one in the place had really been listening to their conversation.

As she walked down the street, utter mortification took hold of her. She couldn't believe she had thought Luke was being petty and flirting with other women to get back at her about Christopher. He wasn't that guy, but she knew her fear of the Hartford crowd, and how horrible the women of that crowd could be, clouded her judgement. At the end of the day, she didn't want the Hartford society set creeping into her world of Stars Hollow, and the last thing she wanted was one of the Booster Club ladies to get their hands on Luke. He was hers, and she wasn't going to let him go.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it. I give all credit to the writers of this fantastic show for the dialogue I've borrowed.

 **Author's Notes:** Sorry for the delay everyone! Work decided to crank up to a chaotic level, and I never could seem to find time to focus on this.

* * *

 **Ten**

She flipped through the mail as she walked up her driveway to the house, and absently pushed through the door, kicking it closed behind her. As she neared the bottom of the stack of bills and flyers, she noticed a bright red envelope, and her curiosity was piqued. Already, a lot of Christmas cards were arriving, and she was looking forward to seeing who this one was from, and if there was the possibility of an even uglier baby picture. Unwinding her scarf from around her neck, she tossed the rest of the pile on the table, and moved to the couch as she flipped over the envelope. The address on the back had her heart racing a little, and she quickly slid her finger under the flap to pry it open.

Inside, as expected, was a Christmas card. Unexpected however, was the image of the gorgeous woman, and a cute little dog alongside the man she knew so well. Unprepared for the way it made her feel, she quickly stood, and shoved the card under the already growing pile of Christmas cards sitting on the armchair.

Christopher never sent Christmas cards. Ever. But this year he had. He'd be in contact fairly frequently since she had made that call months ago for Rory's debutante ball. That one call seemed to have really started something.

...

Mia's visit had been like one of those first unexpected snowfalls of the year that seem to change in intensity with each passing moment. First, they come out of nowhere, and delight those around with the surprise visit. But then the pretty snow just keeps building and building, making people nervous to go out in it and drive. But then when it seems as though it's as scary as can be, the sun comes out, and reflects off the snow, creating a magical winter wonderland, leaving people wondering why they could ever be afraid of it.

While Mia's arrival had been unexpected, it was initially exciting. However, the longer she was there, the more the nervous tension grew around her visit. Lorelai knew she would have to tell Mia about her and Sookie's plans to open their own inn, and therefore leave the Independence Inn, but just couldn't find the right time to bring it up. And then, if that wasn't bad enough, she was so wrapped up in how she was going to tell Mia about those plans, she completely forgot about Mia not knowing about her dating Luke. So when Rory casually brought it up, there seemed to be some hurt feelings in the air for a brief moment.

But then everything seemed to come together as she finally told Mia about leaving, and of course, Mia couldn't be more supportive. However, knowing that the Independence Inn was now going to be sold, had her worrying on a whole different level. At the end of the day though, Mia's visit pushed Lorelai to move into the next stage of her life, and as she looked back on Mia's visit, she couldn't help but wonder how she could have ever have been worried about telling Mia she was ready to move on.

So then, maybe it was appropriate that the first snowfall of the year came soon after Mia's departure, and seemed to follow the pattern of her visit. First unexpected, but then quickly nerve-wracking, and ending with satisfaction.

...

The storm came with little warning. She had smelled snow that morning, and knew without a doubt something was coming, but she must have been developing a cold or something, because even she wasn't prepared for the storm that hit.

Mid-morning on Friday, a few flakes started to fall, but it wasn't anything serious. By all accounts, the really heavy stuff was supposed to hit in the early morning hours of Saturday, so a trip into Hartford for Friday night dinner was still expected, and of no real concern. She and Rory bundled themselves up, and even had enough time to stop to fill up the gas tank of the Jeep before heading out on the roads. As they neared Hartford, the falling snow was definitely picking up, and the two girls discussed the logistics of having their ritual first snowfall walk around the town square as soon as they arrived home. When they parked the Jeep and walked up to the front door, they had to shield their faces from the wind that was gaining in intensity, and as she reached up to ring the bell, she couldn't help but think in the back of her mind that it felt like ice pellets hitting her face.

The dinner ended up going much longer than usual – the new maid seemed to have a never-ending stream of courses. And then the promised soufflé took much longer to cook than necessary. Lorelai was certain they would see a new maid next week. As such, by the time they finally left, it was much later than they were planning to leave, and already the logistics of the first snowfall walk needed to be changed.

The temperature had plummeted during the dinner, and as such, it took the Jeep awhile to warm up enough to warrant actually driving, thereby making their departure that much later. As she turned out of her parents' driveway, she could feel the tires spin on what had to have been black ice, and the back of the Jeep fishtailed a bit. It was times like these that she was grateful for her 4 wheel drive. The cloth roof however, wasn't great in these temperatures, and as such, the heater was going full blast.

Slowly, they crept through the streets of Hartford, making their way to the freeway, and as they made it out of the city limits, darkness swallowed them whole, and she had to squint to see the tail lights ahead of her. Her headlights were pretty much only illuminating the thick snowflakes flying towards the car, and a quick glance at her speedometer told her she was barely going 25, but it felt like she was speeding with how scary the car felt in her hands. More than once, she wished she had checked the weather before leaving her parents', but regardless, she knew she would have driven back to Stars Hollow. There was no reason on earth that would make her stay a full night with her parents.

The traffic ahead of her slowed to a crawl before fully stopping, and she watched her rearview mirror carefully to ensure the cars behind her stopped, and didn't slide into her. Once cars were all situated around her, she felt her heart rate start to slow. She took the time to look around her, but all she could see was blackness, and thick snow illuminated by the headlights and brake lights around her.

"What's going on?"

At Rory's question, she gripped the top of her steering wheel to pull herself a little closer to the windshield in an attempt to see further down the road. Fruitless in her endeavor, she sat back down, and shook her head. "No idea, but no one is moving. There must be an accident up there."

"Ugh."

"Hopefully we're not stopped for too long."

She nodded in agreement as she eased her foot off the brake a bit to inch forward with the pack of cars, before once again coming to a complete stop. "I wonder how far we are from Stars Hollow? We've been moving so slowly, and I can't see any of the usual landmarks."

Rory glanced at the clock before looking out her window. She shook her head. "I have no idea. Normally after being in the car this long, we'd be almost home, but, we could be anywhere."

Agreeing with Rory's assessment, she let out a sigh. As she slowly let her foot off the brake again, she started fishing around for her purse. Once it was clasped in her fingers, she tossed it in Rory's lap, making sure to not move her eyes from the road in front of her. "Hey, maybe give Dean a call and see if he can find a road report on the news."

"Ok."

Rory dug through her mother's bag, and pulled out the phone. Dropping the purse beside her feet on the floor, she opened the phone and quickly dialed Dean's number. "Hi Clara. It's Rory. Can you put Dean on the phone?" Rory sat quietly as she waited for Dean, and looked out the window as she waited. "Dean! Hi!...No, I'm not home yet, we're stuck on the highway….Yeah…We think it's an accident…No, we can't see anything…Yeah…Hey, can you check to see if you can find a road report? It'd be nice to know what we're dealing with here…Yeah, I'll wait." While waiting for Dean, Rory picked absently at a piece of lint on her dress. When his voice returned a couple of minutes later, she perked up. "Yeah, still here. There is, huh?...How long?...Ok…Yeah…Wait. Dean? Dean? Hello?" Rory pulled the phone away from her ear to look at it, and frowned.

"What's wrong?" She risked glancing over Rory's way before quickly returning her eyes to the road. The cars were moving, but slowly, and there was always a risk of needing to stop again.

Still staring at the phone for a moment, Rory finally held it up to show her mom. "Your phone died. Didn't you charge it?"

"Ugh, no. I thought it would last until we got home. Stupid, tiny battery."

"Mom!"

"What? How was I supposed to know we'd be stuck in the storm of the century?" She drummed her fingers on the wheel for a few moments and then grinned when the cars in front of her started to move. "Look, see? We're moving already!" The reprieve however, was brief, and she sighed. "Ok, so, at least we moved. Hey, so what did Dean say?"

"He said that there was a huge accident, and they were only letting cars through intermittently. Apparently tow trucks are already there though."

"How far up is it?"

"It's at exit 6, but, since I'm not sure where we are, that could be 5 minutes ahead, or an hour."

She blew out a breath, but since there wasn't much that could be done, she started flipping through the radio stations. "Ok, well, since we're going to be here awhile, what station do you want?"

"Hmmm. Seems like a rock kind of night."

...

Three hours later, they finally made it into Stars Hollow – having had to stop once to relieve their ready-to-burst bladders, and to buy some much needed caffeine. However, even with the coffee, they were both ready to fall asleep, and wanted nothing more than their warm beds. But as they rolled to a stop on their driveway, which suspiciously looked as if it had been shoveled some time recently, a figure emerged from the front door. And, as she took in the house again, she realized all the lights were on, which, should have been impossible.

"Is that Luke?"

She looked over at Rory, who was leaning forward to try to get a better look at the oncoming person, and turned to look herself. It did indeed look like Luke, and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides as he stomped towards the Jeep. "Looks like it."

"Wow, he looks mad."

She frowned. "Yeah. He does." She turned towards Rory and said, "Hey hon, why don't you just head on in and go to bed? I'll handle this."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Looking concerned about the situation, but equally grateful she could go immediately to bed, Rory hopped out of the Jeep, threw a hello to Luke which was not returned, and sauntered up the steps of the porch into the house.

With her daughter on the move towards the warmth of the house, and her boyfriend quickly making his way to her car, Lorelai opened her door, and slid off her seat, her heels sinking into the layer of snow on the driveway as the wind whipped the still falling snow around her. Luke was there before she knew it, and as she slammed the Jeep's door, he was upon her with his hands in the air, and frustration written all over his face.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Anger seemed to be rolling off of him in waves, and she felt herself take a tiny step back. "At my parents'. You knew that."

"Lorelai, you were supposed to be home _hours_ ago."

"Yeah, I know, but there was a huge accident on the freeway, and we were stuck in it."

"And it never once occurred to you to call me to let me know?"

Shrugging, she answered, "my phone was dead." She watched as he opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly shut it before closing his eyes, and rubbing his hat back and forth on his head.

"Your phone was dead? Why was your phone dead?"

"Uh, I forgot to charge it?" Another gust of wind blew around her and she shivered. "Hey, can we continue this inside?"

Ignoring Lorelai's request, Luke shook his head in disbelief. "You forgot…you forgot to charge it? Lorelai, it's the blizzard of the century, and you knew you'd be travelling, and you forgot to charge it? Do you know how irresponsible that is? What if there was an emergency? God forbid you ever think ahead."

She watched as he threw his arms up in the air in frustration, and shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. "Luke, what's your problem? So I forgot to charge my phone. You and I weren't doing anything tonight anyways, so what does it matter if I'm home late?"

"What's my problem? What's my problem?" Luke jabbed a finger at his chest. "My problem is, you never think Lorelai. Never!" When she just looked at him blankly, he threw his hands up in frustration once more. "You know what? Fine. Don't charge your phone. Don't think ahead about your safety. Just go about acting like life doesn't touch you." He balled his hands up into fists at his side in frustration. "You know what, I can't do this now. You're home, your driveway is shoveled, and there's a fire burning in your fireplace. I'm out of here." With that, he turned on his heel, and stormed away, leaving a confused Lorelai in his wake.

Baffled, and a little hurt by Luke's yelling, she only watched his retreating form for a few moments before a chill wound its way through her body. Shivering, she tried to close her jacket tighter around her body, and began picking her way through the snow in her heels. At the top of the porch stairs, she paused to tap her shoes against the railing to try to get the excess snow off of them, before moving forward and into the house. With the door closed behind her, she breathed out deeply. What a night. Her nerves were shot. First her mother, then the storm, and then Luke.

Alcohol was definitely needed.

Nodding at her internal decision, she toed off her shoes, sighing at the heavenly feel of not standing in heels, and shrugged out of her jacket. As she was hanging it up, the front door banged open beside her, and she was fairly certain she let out a yelp of surprise. When she turned, she was gathered into the strong arms of Luke and crushed to his chest. Then she was being propelled backwards and her back hit the wall hard as his lips descended on hers. Even though her eyes were closed because she was already feeling her body react to Luke, her motherly instincts had warning bells going off in her head. But, when she pulled back for a moment, taking the time to breathe in some air, she noted that Rory was no longer in the vicinity. She must have ran out of her room upon hearing the front door bang open, but when she saw what was going on, subtly made her exit.

With the knowledge they were once again alone, she returned her tongue to the dual it had been engaged in with Luke's. But when he shifted his attention to her neck, and his fingers were inching her dress further up her legs, she desperately tried to stutter out words. "Luke. What…" Her voice was breathless, and even though she wanted nothing more than to feel him inside her right then and there, regardless of the fact there was a teenager only a wall away, she needed to know what was going on.

"I was so worried about you." Luke nipped at the delicate skin on her neck, leaving a mark before moving to the other side. "The weather. Then you weren't here." He thrust his hips into her as he was desperate to feel her against him.

Her blood was igniting, and as she felt the bulge in his jeans rub against her in just the right way, she was suddenly desperate to be naked. "Upstairs."

The two of them stumbled up the stairs, pieces of clothing shed during the ascent. Luke reached behind him as they crossed the threshold of the room to shut the door, and blindly flipped the lock. Knowing they were fully alone, they worked quickly to remove all clothing barriers between them, before sinking down on the bed. Luke immediately laid on top, with his erection rigid against her hip. He ran his hands up her sides, before slipping them underneath her to lift her closer to him.

Her body bowed under his, and she felt that wonderful tightening in her groin. When he pulled back over her, in the half-light coming from the window, she could see his eyes scanning her body, like he was trying to convince himself she was actually there beneath him. Reaching up, she ran her fingers through the soft hair on his chest, before moving them to his shoulders. Her touch seemed to soothe him slightly, but she could see the primal desire burning in his eyes. Pulling him down to her, she put her hands on his back, holding him to her body, and the feel of his skin on hers had her arousal flaming.

Luke buried his head in her neck, and continued the kissing, sucking, and biting he had been doing down in the entryway only minutes before. Once he had his fill of her neck, he moved his lips up her chin, kissing her as he went, before possessing her mouth with his tongue. His hands were everywhere on her body, and soon his mouth moved down her body. Once at her breasts, he took the time to worship them, drawing each nipple into his mouth, sucking and pulling it until it rose.

The feeling was incredible, and a groan escaped her lips as she ran her fingers up and down the muscles of Luke's back.

"Oh, god, Lorelai," he managed to choke out.

His voice caused all muscles below her waist to tighten, and she wanted nothing more than to feel him inside her. She started panting, and when his hand moved down her belly to her sex, and quickly inside her, she was certain she was going to explode. When his fingers started to move, another groan escaped her lips, and for a brief second, she worried she was being loud enough for Rory to hear, but then Luke curled his fingers and everything was forgotten but the feeling of him. She pushed her pelvis up to meet those talented fingers, and she felt like she was in heaven.

He pulled his fingers from her, and when she whimpered, he shook his head. "I need to feel you, Lorelai."

She nodded, and he stretched out above her, rubbing the tip of his erection against her folds before slowly sliding his length within her. Once he was fully sheathed, they breathed out in ecstasy together, and took a moment to adjust to the feeling. Just as she was ready to encourage him to start moving, she felt herself being shifted and then she was on top.

"I want to watch you."

Nodding her understanding, she pushed herself up before slowly sinking down on him again. He tilted his head back and groaned as she continued to slowly ride him. Grabbing his hands to steady herself, she began to ride him faster, watching as he began to lose control beneath her. When she leaned down to kiss him, the changed angle caused shockwaves of pleasure to ripple through her. Pulling back a bit, she let go of his hands and placed her palms on his chest as he clasped her hips, guiding her rhythm. Bucking his hips, he thrust deeply in her, and she whimpered in pleasure, starting to ride him even faster, before he flipped her once again so she was beneath him.

Reaching up, she clasped his face in her hands, and pulled him down to her lips so she could kiss him once again, before curling her hands around his back as he continued to move inside her. She could feel her climax building, and when he shifted slightly, thrusting into her at a slightly different angle, her body exploded around him. Clinging to him, she could hear him cry out her name as he climaxed with her, filling her. After a few more thrusts, he collapsed on top of her, pressing his full weight into her as they both slowly came down from their high.

She whimpered slightly when he pulled out of her and rolled off, and desperately tried to get her breathing under control. Trailing two fingers down her neck, she brushed away the pool of sweat that had settled in the hollow of her throat. It felt like she had run a marathon, and yet as her mind quickly replayed the sex she and Luke had just had, she could already feel her body humming and getting ready for more. "Wow." She rolled over and tucked her body up against Luke's, and traced her fingers through the soft hair on his chest, which was slick with sweat.

Feeling her heated skin against him, Luke pulled her as close as he could, not wanting to let go. He pulled in a deep breath through his nose, and slowly let it out, the air slightly moving strands of her hair. "Yeah."

She laid there in his tight embrace, but as the minutes ticked by, her heart started to pound. Eventually, she sighed. "Don't you have to get going soon?"

Above her, Luke shook his head. He pulled her even closer and leaned down so he could kiss the top of her head. "Not tonight. No way am I letting you out of my sight for a while."

Confused, she tilted her head up so she could look him in the eye. "But what about Jess?"

"I told Kirk he could have free food all day tomorrow if he stayed awake in the diner all night and made sure Jess didn't go anywhere."

She couldn't help it. She snorted. "Really? Not only did you leave Kirk unattended in your diner, but you think he could stop Jess from going anywhere?"

"If he knows what's good for him," he grumbled.

Sensing he wasn't in the mood for teasing at the moment, she settled back down against him, content to be in the silence of his embrace. Letting his lazy finger strokes lull her almost to the point of sleep, she swallowed before talking. "Luke, I'm sorry about not having my phone charged and for making you worry." When he merely grunted in response, she smiled. He was almost asleep too. "I won't do it again."

Smiling, he leaned down to place another kiss on the top of her head. "Good."

...

Admittedly, when their snowwoman's head fell off, she was ready to throw in the towel. The ringer's snowman was definitely going to win, and really, who wanted a set of new US quarters? So when Rory suggested getting coffee, she was in.

Thankfully, after the blizzard the week before, the snowfall had ceased, and the sun was shining through. It was cold, but there was a promise of a break in the weather. As they stepped through the door, she pulled off her hat, and unwound the scarf from her neck as they moved to a table by the window. "Ugh. I hate the cold."

"But you love snow."

She sat down across from Rory and sighed. "Yes, but it needs to come when it's warmer out."

"You know that's impossible."

"Hey, you're smart. Maybe that's something you should work on making happen."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'll get right on that."

"That's some snowman you have out there."

She shifted her gaze from her daughter up to her boyfriend and quirked an eyebrow at his obvious mocking. "First, it's a snowwoman, and second, for your information, we're going for a surrealism kind of look."

Clearly not believing her, Luke held onto the pot of coffee, and rocked back on his heels. "Uh huh."

"Yes. Like, the head on the ground symbolizes the need to feel grounded."

"Uh huh."

"I mean, anyone can build a regular snowwoman, but it takes real talent to turn it into an artistic statement about the meaning of life."

"Uh huh."

Quickly realizing Luke wasn't buying any of this, she breathed in and out. "Fine. It sucks. We don't know what we're doing."

"Aw, really? I had no idea."

"You know what? Maybe you should stick to serving customers instead of handing out support." She glanced down at her empty coffee cup. "Oh wait, you're not even all that great at serving customers today, either, are you."

Rolling his eyes, he poured a cup for both Lorelai and Rory. "I'll come out and help you later."

Leaning back in her chair and looking at him with love in her eyes, she clasped her hands over her heart. "Aw, he does care!"

"Yeah, yeah. You eating?"

She shook her head. "Nah, we just needed something to warm us up." As Luke walked away, she turned back to Rory. "You know, we never did get our first walk in the snow."

Rory dipped her eyes to her coffee as she cleared her throat. "Yeah, well, you were busy."

Suddenly remembering just _why_ she and Rory didn't get that walk, Lorelai could feel a blush creep across her face. "Uh, we never really talked about that night." She knew Rory had seen her and Luke in a not so family friendly encounter, and wasn't sure how much it had scarred Rory.

Waving her hand in dismissal, Rory shook her head, refusing to look her mother in the eye. "I'd rather not."

Sensing it wasn't a subject to push, Lorelai bobbed her head in understanding, and took a sip of coffee before speaking. "Next snowfall though, ok?"

"Ok."

The two girls sat in a rare moment of silence as they drank their coffee, before heading back out to the snowwoman.

...

Christopher calling threw off her whole day. She couldn't even enjoy the snowfall walk with Rory that evening. He was contacting them a lot lately – ever since the debutante ball – but now there was the added prospect of his new girlfriend. He must be serious about her since they sent a Christmas card together, but if he was that serious, why was he contacting them so much? It was all so confusing, and even more confusing were her thoughts on the whole issue. She was happy with Luke, but it was bothering her that Christopher had found someone, and she couldn't figure out why that was. But, because of that, she decided to be petty, and keep the phone call from Rory. The last thing she wanted was Rory going off and having more fun with Christopher's girlfriend than with her own mother.

The call seemed to ignite a firestorm of bad events, culminating in the cancellation of the Bracebridge group. She felt numb, and that numbness was the only thing keeping her from completely losing it. Even as she sat with Sookie and Rory in the diner, the numbness was what was keeping her calm in the wake of Sookie's panic. But when Luke walked up to them, and she could begin to see where Sookie was going with her questioning of Luke, Lorelai felt the numbness begin to wash away to be replaced with excitement.

"What's she doing?"

She could see the worry in Luke's eyes, and couldn't help but chuckle. "I think she's inviting you for dinner."

Sookie nodded. "Yeah, come on, join us. It'll be fun. You like Peacock Pie?"

"I'm a hundred percent sure I don't."

Sensing she was quickly losing him, she jumped in with, "There'll be normal food too."

"And decorations," Rory added, clearly getting excited about the idea of having Luke and Jess come over for dinner.

"And music."

After Sookie's contribution, Lorelai could see Luke was starting to cave. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"Well…"

Because the wheels were turning in her head, she was already moving on to how to make the dinner even better, and completely missed Luke agreeing to come. "Hey, you know what? Let's invite everyone."

Unable to keep up with the rapid pace of Lorelai's changing thoughts, Sookie narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Everyone who?"

"Everyone, everyone."

"Everyone, everyone who?"

"Everyone we know, everyone we like."

Feeding off her mother's enthusiasm, Rory jumped in to add to the idea. "And they could even stay in the inn. All those empty rooms, all those uneaten pillow mints."

"An out of control, over the top slumber party!"

Sookie threw up her hands in excitement. "I love it!"

"Me too!"

Lorelai clapped her hands together. "Done!" She turned to Luke and smiled. "Spread the word."

Holding up his hands to try to stop the jubilance that was radiating from the table of girls, Luke attempted to halt the quickly spiraling idea. "I haven't said I'd come yet, so I'm certainly not gonna suddenly become your messenger boy."

Lorelai stared Luke down for a moment, but when she could see he was fairly successfully standing his ground, she smirked, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. She knew for a fact that hair flip was a particular weakness of his, and when he let out a loud sigh, she knew she had him.

"Eight o'clock?"

Grinning, she corrected him. "Seven."

"Right." Before he got suckered into anything else, Luke quickly turned on his heel and exited, leaving behind a table of gossiping girls, one of whom could make him agree to do anything. He had a feeling that his willingness to do anything to make her happy could have unforeseen consequences one day.

...

Planning for the new Bracebridge dinner was relatively simple since most of it had already been done. The only real challenge was the room arrangements, since she needed to find a way for someone to keep an eye on Jess since Luke was definitely going to be staying with her. And since Rory had shot down her suggestion of putting Jess in with Miss Patty, she needed to shuffle some more things around. However, at least the difficult room arrangements saved her from a completely awkward conversation about Christopher and Sherry when Rory found the hidden Christmas card, but only by creating yet another awkward conversation when Rory suggested keeping a room for the still fighting Richard and Emily.

The evening of the dinner, while slightly stressful, started off without a hitch, and as such, she decided she was going to take advantage of the horse-drawn sleigh rides she was able to arrange. Truthfully, she was looking forward to some time alone with Luke in a romantic setting, so scurried to the front of the line, and climbed into one of the first sleighs.

After sitting for a few moments, she realized Luke hadn't even seen her climb into the sleigh, so she figured she would embarrass him in front of Bootsy. Even though they'd been dating awhile, he still got uncomfortable with PDA in front of certain people, and Bootsy was definitely one of them. "Hey, you in the belt – get in."

Why hearing her voice was unexpected to him, he didn't know, but he still found himself looking around to see who was being called before looking up at her and seeing her gesture to him. However, as much as she liked horse drawn sleigh rides, they weren't really his thing. "What? Oh, no, I was just sort of checking things out."

"Come on. We can pull a Ben Hur and take down Taylor's sleigh."

He had to smirk a bit at her comment, but he was still hesitant. The fact that Bootsy was right there didn't make things any better. He knew the newspaper salesman would make some sort of snide comment another time when Lorelai wasn't around. "I don't know, I…"

"Aww, come on, Luke. I can't be all school marmy and ride by myself. Please?"

He sighed. Yup, she could get him to do just about anything. "Well, ok." He climbed up in the sleigh, and slid under the blanket she was holding up for him. Once he was settled, he wrapped an arm around Lorelai, and decided this wasn't the worst place to be when she leaned against him.

"Giddy up." When the sleigh lurched forward, she felt herself fall further into Luke's strong arms. "Uh! The horses heard me. I speak horse language! I'm Dr. Doolittle!"

Because he knew Bootsy was still in hearing distance, he refused to allow himself to go along with her latest bit. "Plus, I think the driver of the sleigh heard you."

Frowning, she agreed. "Oh, yeah."

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, before Luke broke it. "I gotta say, sleigh ride's a little much, but these horses are really beautiful."

"Yes, especially from this angle."

Rolling his eyes, Luke replied, "not just from this angle."

The two bickered back and forth for a few moments about the beauty of the horse's behind, before Lorelai quietened for a moment, and took stock of exactly where she was. She just couldn't get over the utter feeling of peace that had washed over her. "God, the town looks beautiful."

Luke shrugged, clearly not in the same headspace as Lorelai. "Same as always."

She shook her head. "No, it's always different this time of year. It's magical."

"If you say so, sure. Oh look, there's the magical plumbing supply store where I bought a magical float for my toilet last week."

Swatting at his chest, Lorelai muttered, "you disappoint me."

However, he continued as if she hadn't said anything. "Oh look. There's the magical Luke's Diner right underneath the apartment that Jess magically lit by leaving every stinkin' light on."

The mention of Jess' name had Lorelai thinking. During the time he had been staying with Luke, Jess had done nothing to soften Lorelai's opinion of him, and as such, she and Luke had avoided the subject of Jess unless it directly affected whatever plans they may have had. Jess was always there, but carefully avoided at all costs. But tonight, she was in such a good mood, she felt like it was a good time to dive into the subject. "How's it going with you guys?"

Taken aback by her question since they always avoided talking about Jess, Luke pulled back a bit. "Me and Jess? Great."

"Great? Really?"

"Really."

Getting the sense that Luke was uncomfortable with the topic they usually avoided, she decided to answer just as short as Luke was. "Well, good."

Luke was tempted to let the subject drop, but he felt emboldened by Lorelai's good mood and pushed forward. It was like they were turning a corner in their relationship while on the sleigh ride. "It is good. I mean, like you know, it was hard at first, seemed impossible, but I've learned a lot these past couple months."

Intrigued, Lorelai turned to him. "Like?"

"Like, last week, I discovered the secret of parenting."

She couldn't help but snort. "You did?"

"Yup."

"The secret of parenting." She couldn't wait to see where he went with this.

"The secret of parenting."

"When last week? Last Tuesday?"

Quickly getting the feeling she was teasing him, Luke tried to halt the progression of the conversation. Maybe they weren't turning any corner other than the one in the town square. "I don't know the exact day."

"Tuesday at 5:15, is that when you discovered the secret of parenting?"

"Don't mock."

She was on a roll. "Well, tell me. What is…oh wait, it's a secret, you can't tell me."

Deciding he might as well push through, because he was actually feeling pretty good about his realization, he shook his head. "No, I'll tell you. You visualize the reality you want."

Huh? "You visualize the reality you want."

"And then, if necessary, you lie to bring it about."

Suddenly, all notions of mocking Luke escaped her, and instead, a deep feeling of guilt washed over her. As much as she wasn't a fan of Jess, she was a huge fan of Luke, and she realized that all this time, she shouldn't have been trying to ignore Jess – no, she should have been doing everything she could to help Luke raise the kid. She knew he was in over his head, but her own stubbornness kept her from helping him. "That is so much worse than I was expecting."

"You never lied to your kid?"

"Ahh, to save her from great physical pain, yes. When she was little and she would play in the kitchen, I told her that the burners were the devil's hands, but I would say it in a really scary evangelist voice, you know, 'Don't touch the devil's hands!' She still doesn't go near the stove."

Completely missing the point Lorelai was trying to make, Luke bobbed his head in agreement. "Yes, exactly. You told a white lie for your kid's protection. Very similar to what I've done."

"Which was?"

"Well, you know the winter break is coming up?"

"Yes, I do."

"Ok, well, that means Jess has some time off from school. His mom knew that and she never called."

At Luke's words, she felt her heart fall twice. Once, selfishly for herself, and not getting Luke to herself for a while like she was hoping, and twice, for Jess who clearly had a mother who cared so little for her son, she didn't even call. "Ugh, it makes me sick."

"So, I decided just to keep Jess with me, and I told him that his mom wanted him to come home but I thought since he just got there and was still adjusting that I thought he should stay, and his mom was really upset but I insisted. He bought it hook, line, and sinker. Save him a lot of hurt."

Lorelai watched Luke carefully as he explained what he was doing for Jess, and she could feel her heart breaking for both Luke and Jess. "He didn't buy it."

"What? Of course he did."

She shook her head. "He knows." Feeling conflicted about everything, and therefore not wanting to continue the conversation, she buried herself in Luke's warmth, mulling over what she should do with the whole situation.

...

Later that night, while Luke was invariably threatening Jess somewhere to stay in the inn, Lorelai snuck into Rory's room, and was pleased to see that Paris had decided to stay over. When Paris excused herself to the bathroom to get ready for the night, Lorelai took the opportunity to talk about her parents' argument at dinner, but found herself admitting she kept a call from Christopher hidden. When Rory called her on being jealous of Sherry, she had to admit that Rory was right. But what was she really jealous of Sherry? That she was going to get time on holidays with Rory? Or, the more troubling notion – that she was the one who ended up with Christopher?

Thankfully, a knock at Rory's door interrupted the whole conversation, and she silently prayed it was Luke looking for her, even though she knew he would never come to Rory's door, and rather, just go back to their room to wait for her. Since she was closest to the door, she moved over to it and opened it to her mother.

"I need a new room."

Both the presence of Emily and the statement threw her. "What?"

"I can't stay in that room."

"There are no other rooms, Mom."

"Well, then I'll go home."

"Grandma, it's late."

She looked back at Rory who seemed very concerned about her grandmother, before turning back to Emily. "And pitch black, and the roads are icy. You can't be driving."

"Well, I'm not going back to that room."

She sighed. "I'm guessing you and Dad had it out about the job thing?"

"We haven't even spoken since dinner. I'm so upset. I wouldn't know where to begin. And I couldn't take being around him anymore. What he did is inexcusable. Not letting me know he left his job – as if it didn't affect me?"

For the second time that evening, a feeling of guilt washed over her. "Aw mom, try to calm down. Why don't you come in for a few minutes?" She stepped back to allow Emily into the room. "I was just about to leave, but you can sit with Rory for a while."

"You're leaving? Where are you going? And who's in the shower?"

Lorelai swept her eyes to the closed bathroom door, and then back to her mother. "Paris, Rory's friend from school. And I'm going to my room."

"Your room? You're not staying here?"

She shook her head. "No, Rory is staying with Paris."

"Who are you staying with?"

Her lips were suddenly very dry, and she felt it the moment when Emily's attention shifted from Richard, to her. "Uh, with Luke."

"Luke? The diner man?"

"The very one."

"You're still dating him?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm still dating him." She forced herself to keep her eyes locked on her mother's in some weird stare down of wills. It was Emily who broke first.

"I'm going for a little walk."

"Grandma, it's late."

"I'm not tired." With that, Emily stood from the chair she had situated herself on, and walked to the door, opened it, and slammed it behind her.

Left standing in the wake, Lorelai shook her head. "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Gilmores of our lives."

"You ok?"

Rory's question had her turning from the closed door back to her daughter, and she realized she was hugging herself. Knowing she needed another set of arms hugging her, she nodded. "Yeah. Come here."

When Rory moved towards her, she opened her arms to hug her daughter goodnight, and placed a kiss on her head. "You going to be ok tonight?"

"Of course."

"Ok, well, if you need me, just call. Otherwise, I'll see you in the morning, ok?"

"Ok. Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, kid."

...

Later that night, while wrapped in Luke's arms, her bare skin touching his, she focused on the roaring fire at the other end of the room. It always amazed her that something so beautiful had the potential to be so destructive.

"I feel like I should do something with my mom."

"Hmmm?"

She knew from his steady breathing that he was already dozing after their lovemaking, but she needed to work through at least one of the issues swirling through her mind. The Jess situation could be discussed at another time, and the weird Christopher one needed to be avoided at all costs. So, that left her mother.

"She seemed really upset."

"They're your parents. They'll work it out. Give it a couple of days."

At Luke's simple advice, she went quiet, thinking about her own late night walk that night before meeting Luke back in their room. After she left Rory, she wandered through the Inn, making sure everything was in place for the night. And, as she thought about it, she didn't see anyone other than the night staff. No guests at all were roaming around in the late night hours, and that included her mother, which meant her mother had gone back to her own room. Maybe Luke was right – maybe her parents were able to work it out. Sighing, she focused her eyes once again on the dancing flames in the fireplace. "Yeah. You're right."

"I always am."

She grinned, happy to be falling asleep in this man's arms for the second time in a week. Things were definitely looking up.


End file.
